Located 45 minutes from Marrakech, the Agafay Desert offers travelers a more accessible alternative to the Sahara, which is a seven-hour drive away. Just eight years ago, however, few travelers had even heard of it.
Though few operators saw tourism potential there, Tarik Elmahdi launched Marrakech Desert Camp as an excursion business in 2018.
“Our mission was a desert experience for everyone. Desert experiences were already expensive. We wanted to offer something unforgettable at an affordable price,” Tarik says.
Today, Marrakech Desert Camp welcomes 72,000 guests a year, with GetYourGuide driving 50% of its bookings.
Tarik opened an overnight camp in 2020. The business survived COVID and grew from 8 employees and 6 tents to 120 employees and 65 tents in 6 years. Today, the camp offers overnight stays with dinner and entertainment, evening packages, and day passes with pool access and desert activities.
Here, Tarik and his team member Chaima share how GetYourGuide fueled its growth, how the destination has changed, and how the team maintains a 4.8-star guest experience at scale.
How did the business start?
We started by offering transportation, camel rides, and dinners in the Agafay Desert in 2018. After taking guests to other desert camps, they didn't offer the experience we wanted for our customers. So we built our own. Because transportation is where we started, we still offer flexible shuttle transfers from Marrakech to the camp today.
Running the desert camp required a significant investment, including around €140,000 to connect to the electricity grid. We opened on 25 February 2020, just weeks before the pandemic.
We had eight team members and could not just let them go. To keep the business alive, we offered overnight stays, dinners, and meeting experiences to local travelers through social media ads. Even during the pandemic, we expanded the number of tents from 6 to 20.
When international travelers came back in 2022, we welcomed 55,000 guests across all packages.
How has GetYourGuide helped grow the business?
We started listing on GetYourGuide in 2023 because we saw it as "the future of excursions." We were among the first camps to offer overnight stays in the Agafay Desert on GetYourGuide, which gave us an early advantage.
The results were immediate. Daily guest numbers more than doubled from 100 to as many as 250. Annual guests reached around 72,000, a 30% increase. This March and April were the best months for our business. Combined with the Easter holidays and Marrakech's ideal weather, we welcomed a record 350 guests in a single day.
Revenue stayed stable, but GetYourGuide's share of bookings boomed from 10% to 50% in three years.
Agafay itself has changed, too. Seven or eight years ago, few travelers had heard of it. Today, Chanel and Dior run runway shows, famous DJs perform, and music festivals take place here. As more travelers discover Agafay, the local community benefits from new jobs, including at our camp.
How do you use GetYourGuide analysis and reviews to improve?
We check GetYourGuide's AI analysis daily to understand how travelers behave. When the data showed that travelers spent time on the listing but did not book, we simplified the description. That increased bookings.
At first, we had one overnight product with three tent types: shared, private, and deluxe. GetYourGuide recommended splitting them into three products. It made the decision faster and brought in around 30 additional guests per night.
We also track reviews closely. One guest said the air conditioning wasn't working well. With outside temperatures reaching 47 degrees Celsius, cooling the tents takes time. Now we turn on the air conditioning hours before arrival, so every tent is cool at check-in.
Beyond improving the listing and operations, GetYourGuide helped us think about availability. Guests can book up to six months ahead or as late as four hours before arrival, with free cancellation until two hours before check-in. That flexibility helps protect both guest satisfaction and our ratings.
How does the team maintain a 4.8-star rating across more than 6,500 reviews?
Travelers find us because they want an authentic desert experience at a reasonable price. Great experiences lead to positive reviews, and positive reviews bring more bookings.
As guest numbers rose, we expanded our tent capacity, vehicle fleet, and team from 8 to 120 people.
Every guide is assigned to a specific product and language, with Italian- and Spanish-speaking guides added as those markets increased. They contact guests before arrival and run a briefing at check-in, so every guest knows the plan and who to call. Staff incentives are tied to reviews and ratings, helping the team maintain high service quality.
Guests often mention the free water. We provide it at reception, in the restaurant, and in every room. A guest once told us, "You are the only place that gives us water for free." It adds cost, but in Morocco, hospitality means never asking guests to buy water in the middle of the desert.
Keeping that standard across a team of 120 takes constant effort. We attended the GetYourGuide supplier summit in Berlin last September, which helped align the team. We returned with one goal: to keep pace with GetYourGuide, in the same direction and at the same pace.
What comes next?
Our mission stays the same. Future investment will focus on increasing capacity and launching massage and spa experiences, as well as cooking classes. Based on guest feedback, we also want to build an in-house souvenir brand and offer gift items.
GetYourGuide will continue to play a key role as we grow.
Key takeaway
- Be first in emerging destinations. Marrakech Desert Camp entered Agafay before demand took off. It built an advantage that still holds, and welcomes 72,000 guests a year today.
- Simplify listings to remove booking friction. Splitting one overnight product into three listings made booking easier and added around 30 guests per night.
- Stay flexible for travelers. Guests can book up to six months ahead or four hours before arrival. Free cancellation until two hours before check-in handles bad-weather days without hurting reviews.
- Focus on memorable details. Cool tents at check-in and free water throughout the camp help turn good experiences into five-star ratings. High ratings bring more bookings.
- Give back to the destination. As the camp capacity grew, so did local hiring. Many of the 120-person team come from surrounding Agafay villages.
