The UK Foreign Office is quietly reviewing its travel advice for Western Sahara, sources confirm, as Morocco accelerates a controversial tourism campaign in the disputed territory. The move has ignited allegations that Rabat is using holiday resorts to cement de facto control, burying the region's unresolved political status under a blanket of sun, sea and sand.
Documents obtained by this newsroom show that Morocco's tourism board has pumped millions into promoting Western Sahara as a 'hidden gem' of the Atlantic coast. Glossy brochures and influencer junkets portray a pristine desert landscape and surf-ready beaches, but omit any mention of the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories or the ongoing struggle of the Sahrawi people for self-determination.
'They want you to think it's just another Moroccan beach town,' a former tourism official familiar with the campaign told me. 'But the message is clear: this land is ours, and it's open for business.' The official spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisal from a government that brooks little dissent.
Western Sahara has been the subject of a decades-long dispute between Morocco and the Polisario Front, which seeks independence. The UN considers it a 'non-self-governing territory', and Morocco's claim is not recognised internationally. Yet Rabat controls about 80 per cent of the region, including its lucrative phosphate deposits and rich fishing waters.
Now tourism is the new frontier. Hotel chains including Accor and RIU have opened resorts in Dakhla and Laayoune, lured by tax breaks and military protection. Passengers fly directly from Casablanca, passing through airports where Moroccan flags fly and soldiers in plain clothes monitor arrivals. Independent travel is discouraged; visitors are steered toward package deals that keep them within resort walls or on organised excursions.
'You see the desert, you see the ocean, but you don't see the political reality,' said a human rights researcher who recently travelled there under a journalist visa. 'The hotels are like bubbles. Outside, there's a heavy police presence and a population that lives in fear.'
The Foreign Office review, triggered by a parliamentary question from Labour MP Emily Thornberry, is expected to examine whether current travel advice adequately reflects the risks of venturing beyond the tourist zones. At present, the FCDO warns of 'terrorism' but says 'most visits are trouble-free'. Critics argue this lets Morocco off the hook.
'British tourists are being used as pawns in a diplomatic game,' said a Sahrawi activist based in London. 'Every flight that lands in Laayoune is a vote for annexation.'
Morocco's London embassy did not respond to requests for comment. But in Rabat, officials insist tourism is a neutral economic boon for a region that suffers from poverty and unemployment. 'We reject any politicisation of the sector,' a Moroccan trade minister told state media last month.
Yet the numbers tell a different story. The number of hotels in Western Sahara rose from 8 to 23 between 2015 and 2023, according to tourism board filings. Occupancy rates remain low outside peak season, suggesting the growth is driven more by political ambition than market demand.
The UK is not alone in its concern. A leaked EU diplomatic cable, seen by this newsroom, shows Brussels is also debating whether to update its own travel guidance, fearing that British and European tourists could become propaganda tools. 'We must not legitimise the occupation through our citizens' holidays,' one diplomat wrote.
For now, the British Foreign Office says its review is 'routine' and will not speculate on conclusions. But the timing is anything but. Just last week, a delegation of British tour operators returned from a fact-finding trip to Dakhla, sponsored by the Moroccan authorities. They described the region as 'safe' and 'underdeveloped' - code, say critics, for a place where dissent is invisible.
The real story of Western Sahara is not on postcards. It is in the empty seats of the UN Security Council, the brutalised spines of Sahrawi human rights defenders, and the slow annexation by investment. And now British holidaymakers are being asked to check it into a suitcase.
