By Travel Weekly Asia
Apr 10, 2019
Indonesia and Malaysia are top contenders, while fast rising destinations include South Korea, Philippines and Spain, new report says.
Indonesia has moved up by one spot to share the first place with Malaysia, benefitting from sustained efforts to invest and develop Muslim-friendly tourist infrastructure.
Indonesia and Malaysia have come out tops in a ranking of 130 destinations around the world that are most Muslim-friendly, a new report says.
The report, Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI), surveyed travel destinations within and outside the Organisation of Islamic Corporation (OIC). Destinations were ranked across four main areas, namely access, communications, environment and services.
Indonesia has moved up by one spot to share the first place with Malaysia, benefitting from sustained efforts to invest and develop Muslim-friendly tourist infrastructure.
Other Islamic countries such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Oman and Brunei continue to be popular with Muslim tourists.
Among non-OIC countries, Singapore, Thailand, the UK, Japan and Taiwan remain the top five respectively, but show improved scores on the index.
New countries that have broken into the top 10 include South Korea and the Philippines, displacing Germany and Australia.
Spain has also entered the list of top 10 non-OIC countries, emerging as a key Halal-friendly European destination for Muslim travellers this year.
Improvements in non-OIC destinations have been marked as they scale up efforts to attract Muslim travellers.
Destinations such as Spain, South Korea and the Philippines have developed useful resources and travel guides that cater to Muslim preferences by listing best Halal restaurants and nearby prayer facilities.
By 2026, the Halal travel sector’s contribution to the global economy is expected to jump 35% to US$300 billion, up from US$220 billion in 2020. By that time, Muslim visitors globally are forecast to grow to 230 million visitors, to represent more than 10 percent of tourists worldwide.
“As the Muslim travel market continues to grow and evolve, we believe, this report along with the ‘Halal Travel Frontier 2019’ report released earlier this year, sets the stage for the next phase of development in this unique travel segment,” said Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating & HalalTrip.
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