Morocco is a country which seems to often be misrepresented in many ways. I think that overall, many countries in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are often displayed, from a tourism perspective at least, as places full of a sort of mystic and mysterious aura around them. I think this is largely due to how these locations are often portrayed in media and film. One of my thoughts of the MENA region goes immediately to tales from the One Thousand and One Nights, Paulo Coelho’s “The Alchemist,” or the ‘Disneyfication’ of Arabic cultures, such as in Aladdin. Several desert trips and tours are available to tourists, such as this, that provide an essentialised and stereotypical version of Morocco.
In reality, Morocco is a modern country, full of both bustling cities and lesser-populated outer regions. There are certainly many conceptions that are partly true, such as the mostly arid landscape and emphasis on religion, but even these are not entirely valid. Since Morocco lies on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, many of its coastal cities experience mild temperatures with plenty of vegetation. Additionally, while Islam is by far the dominant religion in the country, it is not nearly as strict as other Islamic MENA countries. Women, for example, are not obligated to wear hijabs in public.
Overall, while there are certainly some issues with essentializing certain aspects of tourist destinations, I think it is important to note that some essentialism is necessary. Describing every destination in a way that seemingly takes away any sort of special meaning that may be affiliated with it is a harmful practice, as even though those meanings are socially constructed, they serve a purpose in having symbolic importance.
Sources:
Images: https://booktoursindubai.com/tour/overnight-desert-safari https://www.shutterstock.com/video/search/islam-cart
Other: https://www.marrakech-desert-trips.com https://www.roughguides.com/destinations/africa/morocco/culture-etiquette/
Moments in Morocco 