Luxury resort on Morocco's secret coast

Four years ago, very few people outside of Morocco had heard of Saidia.
Then, everything changed in 2002 when King Mohammed VI announced that Saidia would be the site of his flagship resort, Mediterrania-Saidia, the first of six luxury coastal developments in Morocco. The other five are being built along the country's Atlantic coast.
With a government investment of $4.4 billion in what is called the Plan Azur developments, the six resorts are planned to regenerate some of the poorest regions and to contribute to the kingdom's tourism numbers. The overall goal is to triple the number of vacationers coming to Morocco to 10 million by 2010.
"It was the involvement of the king that got me interested," said McDougall, an education program director in the Atlanta school system. "Even though I do not know much about Morocco, I figured if the king is behind this development then it has got to succeed."
Mediterrania - Saidia, now in the second of a three-step plan, will stretch six kilometers, or a little less than four miles, along the sandy coastline next to the Moulouya Estuary, home to more than 180 species of birds.
Scheduled to be completed in 2010, it will be the largest resort in North Africa, with three 18-hole golf courses, 10 four- to five-star hotels, a marina with 850 berths, a yacht club and 3,000 luxury apartments and villas located in both Andalusian and Moroccan style.
It is not just the development that is expected to draw a minimum of 250,000 visitors a year initially, increasing to 500,000 by 2012. The area has hot, dry summers, tempered by southwest trade-winds, and damp winters, which means that the region is rich in citrus trees, almonds, evergreens and vineyards.