The article deals with the problems of development of the tourism sector in the Kingdom of Morocco, which is compared with two other attractive countries for foreign tourists in North Africa - Egypt and Tunisia. The research is based on the analysis of national and international travel statistics, the results of research on the tourism sector in the Arab countries, and field observations of the authors collected during a scientific trip to Morocco in January - February 2020. The reasons for the failure of the long-term strategy (until 2020) for the development of the tourism sector in Morocco are shown. Among them are political problems (especially the consequences of the Arab spring), economic failures of the Moroccan authorities and companies working in the tourism business, as well as a new negative factor for the hospitality industry - the coronavirus pandemic. However, Morocco is still on the 3rd place in Africa in terms of international receipts from tourism. The country is the leader of the continent by the number of international tourists. Authors also study obstacles to turning cultural and historical centers and resorts in Morocco into an attractive destination for Russian tourists, as Egypt and Tunisia managed to be before the events of the Arab spring.