UAE second best for Muslim travellers
DUBAI — The UAE has retained its second position as the top-performing destination in the Muslim travel market that is projected to be worth $220 billion by 2020. It is expected to grow a further $80 billion to reach $300 billion by 2026.
The UAE retained its spot for the second consecutive year behind Malaysia who kept the top spot while Indonesia moved up to third place in the overall rankings, according to Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2017.
The Index covers 130 destinations. It showed a number of nonOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) destinations in Asia move up the rankings.
Singapore retained its pole position for the non-OIC destinations, with Thailand, the UK, South Africa and Hong Kong rounding up the top five. Japan moved up two places to take sixth spot with Spain entering the top 10 for the first time.
The research revealed that in 2016, there were an estimated 121 million Muslim visitor arrivals globally — up from 117 million in 2015 — and this is forecasted to grow to 156 million visitors by 2020, representing 10 per cent of the travel segment.
However, according to the 20162017 Global Islamic Economy Report developed and produced by Thomson Reuters, the UAE ranked first in a global assessment of travel destinations with the best developed halal eco-systems, followed by Malaysia and Turkey.
Another recent research by halal travel firm Salam Standard, on the contrary, shows that the United States is the biggest global beneficiary of the Muslim tourism market.
In a report, Salam Standard said the Islamic travel market accounted for $145 billion in international tourism spending last year, of which the US received 24 per cent or $35 billion. Muslim tourism also contributed $16 billion to US GDP last year, the firm said.
“The United States benefits more from Muslim tourism than any other economy in the world in terms of direct GDP impact,” said Faeez Fadhlillah, co-founder and CEO of Salam Standard.
According to the GMTI report, Asia has remained the leading region in the world in terms of attractiveness to Muslim tourists with an average GMTI score of 57.6, with Africa coming in second place at 47.0, followed by Oceania (43.8), Europe (39.9) and the Americas (33.7)
“The UAE remains a very attractive destination and it will be interesting to see whether it will displace Malaysia over the next few years,” Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating & HalalTrip, said.
“We are seeing the influence of a new breed of young travellers, millennials and Gen Z who are combining technology with a real desire to explore the world while still adhering to their faith-based needs.
“These younger travellers want greater choice, unique experiences and constant connectivity which can be seen with the growth of other Muslim lifestyle segments such as halal food and modest fashion which link perfectly with the travel market.”
“With an overall expenditure of around $155 billion in 2016, the Muslim travel market remains a strong driver for continued growth in travel across the world. It’s constantly evolving with major forces such as changing demographics and digitisation shaping the way the industry is progressing,” said Safdar Khan, division president, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, Mastercard.