The city of Agadir, south of Marrakech, is totally new and modern and is fast developing into Morocco's major resort town chiefly because of its magnificent sandy beaches. The city was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1961 that killed 15,000 people and wiped out most of its historic heritage as an important sea port and centre for caravans traversing the Sahara. The rebuilt city has been modelled to be a tourist destination with fishing port, favoured by package holidays particularly as a starting point for excursions into the desert to the south. Agadir boasts 300 days of sunshine a year, and claims to have 20,000 hotel beds (a quarter of the total in Morocco).