Sunday, 5 July 2026

How to Start a Business in Ouarzazate: Why This Small Desert City Deserves a Second Look

Low competition, active government investment, and a growing tourism and film economy make Ouarzazate one of Morocco's most underrated places to build something

Business & Entrepreneurship Guide — Morocco

Most people planning to start a business in Morocco default to Marrakech, Casablanca, or Fez — cities that are already saturated with guesthouses, tour operators, restaurants, and agencies competing for the same customers. Ouarzazate, the gateway to the Sahara and Morocco's own "Hollywood of the Desert," tells a different story: real, growing demand with noticeably less competition to meet it. Here's what's driving that opportunity, and how to actually get started.

Why Ouarzazate, specifically, right now

Tourism is being actively pushed by the government, not just happening on its own. Morocco's Ministry of Tourism has committed roughly 820 million dirhams (about $75 million) to a 2023–2026 plan aimed at making Ouarzazate a leading sustainable cultural tourism destination — new hotel beds, upgraded existing hotels, renovated cultural sites, and new international air routes.
Arrivals are already climbing. Airport arrivals were up 34% through August 2025 compared to 2019, and new direct routes to London and expanded capacity from France and Spain are bringing in visitors who previously had to route through Marrakech or Casablanca.
The film industry is scaling up, not slowing down. International film shoots generated around 1.5 billion dirhams (roughly $140–150 million) in Morocco in 2024 and 2025 — about triple pre-2021 levels — and a new international film hub is being built directly in Ouarzazate, including post-production facilities, a training center, and a hospitality/film-tourism unit.
Hotel supply is still catching up to demand. Morocco's tourism market overall faces a documented shortage of rooms, especially in the 3–4 star segment that mid-income travelers look for — exactly the gap a smaller city like Ouarzazate is now trying to fill.
The city is diversifying beyond tourism and film. The nearby Noor Ouarzazate Solar Power Station, one of the largest concentrated solar plants in the world, has brought new infrastructure, jobs, and economic activity to the region, reducing the area's historical dependence on tourism alone.

Noor Solar Power Station near Ouarzazate, Morocco — The Noor Ouarzazate Solar Power Station — a sign of the region's push to diversify its economy beyond tourism and film. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Why "low competition" is a real advantage here, not just a sales pitch

In Marrakech or Fez, nearly every category of tourism business — riads, tour agencies, cooking classes, souvenir shops — is already crowded with operators competing on price. Ouarzazate has a fraction of that density relative to its visitor numbers, and much of its existing hotel stock is described in government reports as needing renovation or reopening rather than facing oversupply. That gap between rising demand and thin, sometimes outdated supply is precisely the opening a new, well-run business can fill — particularly one that meets current traveler expectations for quality that older, established operators haven't kept up with.

In plain terms: more people are arriving, more government money is actively being spent to make the city more attractive, and fewer businesses are competing to serve those visitors compared to Morocco's bigger tourist cities. That combination is unusual and doesn't last forever — early movers tend to benefit most.

Business ideas that fit Ouarzazate's current growth

Sector	Why it fits
Boutique guesthouses / renovated riads	Government incentives are actively funding hotel upgrades; renovated small properties can outcompete older, undifferentiated hotels
Desert and kasbah tour operations	Ait Ben Haddou, Kasbah Taourirt, and Atlas Studios draw steady visitor traffic with relatively few specialized, high-quality operators
Film production support services	Catering, transport, local fixing, extras casting, and equipment rental are all in demand as the new film hub scales up
Handicraft and artisan retail	Cultural tourism investment is expanding visitor engagement with local crafts; well-curated shops can stand out easily
Restaurants and cafes near renovated cultural sites	Renovations around Jemaa El Fna square and Kasbah Taourirt are designed to create new cultural hubs, which typically draw foot traffic
Airbnb-style short-term rentals	Documented room shortage in the 3–4 star segment leaves room for well-managed private rentals

Step-by-step: setting up a business in Morocco (Ouarzazate specifics included)

Choose a legal structure. Most small business owners and foreign entrepreneurs register as an SARL (limited liability company) or, for solo operators, an auto-entrepreneur status, which has simpler tax and registration requirements.
Register with the Regional Investment Center (CRI). Ouarzazate falls under the Drâa-Tafilalet region's CRI, which handles business registration, commercial register entry, and tax ID issuance — largely as a one-stop process.
Get your commercial register (Registre de Commerce) and tax identification. This is typically handled at the same CRI office and is a prerequisite for opening a business bank account.
Open a Moroccan business bank account and, if you're a foreign investor, look into the specific requirements for repatriating profits, which Morocco generally permits for foreign-invested companies.
Secure your premises and any required permits — tourism-related businesses (guesthouses, restaurants, tour operations) generally need specific licenses from local authorities and, for guesthouses, classification from the Ministry of Tourism.
Register for social security (CNSS) if you plan to hire staff, which is mandatory in Morocco.
Look into regional and sector-specific incentives. Given the active government push into Ouarzazate specifically, it's worth asking the CRI directly about any current incentives tied to the 2023–2026 tourism plan or the new film hub project — these programs are relatively fresh and details can shift.

Kasbah Taourirt in Ouarzazate, undergoing cultural renovation — Kasbah Taourirt — one of the cultural landmarks at the center of Ouarzazate's renovation plans, and a magnet for foot traffic to nearby businesses. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Real challenges to plan around

Seasonality. Desert tourism has clear high and low seasons; a business built only around peak months needs a plan for the quieter stretches.
Film industry dependency risk. The film sector is genuinely growing, but it's also cyclical and tied to international production decisions — a smart approach treats film-related work as a strong complement to tourism revenue, not a sole foundation.
Water and environmental constraints. Ouarzazate sits in an arid region with real water scarcity concerns; water-intensive business models (certain agricultural ventures, for instance) need to factor this in early.
Smaller local market. Ouarzazate's population and local spending power are modest compared to Marrakech or Casablanca — success here leans heavily on visitor and international spending rather than local demand alone.

The bottom line

Ouarzazate isn't a secret exactly — its studios and kasbahs have appeared in decades of films — but as a place to actually build a business, it remains genuinely underexploited relative to the money and attention now flowing into it. Government-backed tourism investment, a scaling film industry, rising arrivals, and a documented gap in quality accommodation all point the same direction: real demand, without the crowded competition found in Morocco's bigger cities. For entrepreneurs willing to move early and navigate Morocco's fairly straightforward registration process, that's a rare combination.

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