[ad_1]
HALAL travel can be a key growth area for Malaysia, says Muslim tourism guide CrescentRating.
“There are around two billion global Muslims today from at least 13 outbound travel markets. Muslims make up 25% of the world’s population now. By 2030, they’ll be 27% of the world’s population. So if you’re in any business for that matter, not just travel, you can’t ignore this market,” says CrescentRating founder and CEO Fazal Bahardeen.
The Covid-19 pandemic has shown the impact of having tourists from one main source, he notes.
“Sure, the Chinese market is a big travel industry market. However, the difference is that more than 90% of the Chinese market comes from one destination, so the risk is higher, as we saw in the last 12 to 18 months, the impact of one tourist arrival source,” says Fazal, who was in Kuala Lumpur for the Travel Meet Asia trade show recently.
While Tourism Malaysia’s numbers for the first half of the year show that Chinese tourist arrivals remain the highest, they are nowhere near the pre-pandemic figures. Of note is the growing arrivals from Muslim markets including Saudi Arabia, which registered a double-digit growth at 85.3%.
Considered to be the world’s leading authority on halal-friendly travel, CrescentRating, which is a Singaporean company, provides guidance on all aspects of halal-friendly travel to organisations across the globe.
In 2022, Muslim international arrivals hit 110 million, Fazal says, and are forecast to reach 140 million this year.
In its recent annual global Muslim Index, the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2023, CrescentRating found that Asia currently leads the way for arrivals, with more than 31% of all travellers to this region identifying as Muslim.
By 2028, Muslim arrivals are expected to hit 230 million, with a projected expenditure of US$225bil (RM1.1 trillion).
Now in its eighth year, the annual report analyses data across nearly 140 countries to offer comprehensive insights into which destinations best meet the needs of the increasingly influential halal travel segment.
In June, GMTI 2023 and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) also named Malaysia as the “Best Muslim-Friendly Destination” and the “Best Muslim-Women-Friendly Destination”.
“Malaysia has consistently been at the forefront of the GMTI since 2015. Singapore ranked 12th, making it only one of two countries (along with the United Kingdom) outside of the OIC to rank in the top 20.
“The non-OIC destination countries are those that are not Muslim majority population. Again, you will see Asia is performing well. So, Asia in general is a very Muslim- friendly region,” says Fazal.
Fazal: ‘South-East Asia has an opportunity to grow, but it needs to do more.’
The index assesses destinations across four key criteria: Access, Communications, Environment, and Services (ACES). South-East Asian destinations ranked among the top 10 on all four of these criteria, while in the aggregate, Indonesia and Malaysia both scored 73 (out of a possible 100), Singapore scored 64, Thailand achieved a score of 52, and the Philippines, 46.
The report also found that a number of global travel behaviours are impacting trends among Muslim travellers, with the demographic increasingly: incorporating sustainability into their travel; opting for destinations and activities to improve their health and wellness; finding opportunities for immersive experiences and authenticity; incorporating personal development into their travel plans.
Still, there is more that the South-East Asian region can do to attract Muslim travellers, says Fazal.
The travel industry is still recovering from the pandemic, and globally, the overall tourism industry recovery is probably around 60% he points out. According to WTO, however, the Asean region is far from that recovery in 2022: estimated around less than 30% compared to 2019.
“Asia is growing very fast as a global tourism destination, and almost 61% of Muslim tourist arrivals in 2022 was to Asia.
“However, if you look at the Asean region, out of the total Muslim tourist arrivals to Asia, only 1.5% or five million actually came to us. Yeah, it’s a very small number, less than 10% of the total Muslim visitors to Asia came to Asean,” he says.
Nonetheless, Malaysia is leading the Asean destinations for Muslim travellers, GMTI 2023 shows.
“Around 90% of them came to Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, in that particular order,” says Fazal.
“All that means is that, South-East Asia has an opportunity to grow, but it needs to do more.
“Currently, when I say Asia, it’s the middle eastern countries who are doing well in terms of tourist arrivals. Turkey got 51 million visitors last year.”
[ad_2]
Source link