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| Signage in Legoland, Malaysia. |
Malaysia topped the list Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) destinations, followed by Turkey, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Saudi Arabia saw the highest number of Muslim arrivals into the country in 2014 with 10.2 million followed by Turkey at 8.1 million. Singapore came first for non-OIC destinations, followed by Thailand, UK, South Africa and France.
The GMTI looks at in-depth data covering 100 destinations, creating an overall index. The study also revealed that in 2014, this segment was worth US$145 billion with 108 million Muslim travellers representing 10% of the entire travel economy. By 2020, there will be 150 million Muslim tourists making up 11% of the market, valued at US$200 billion.
“The MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index has today set a real precedent for the tourism industry,” said Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating and HalalTrip. “Not only is it the most in-depth research that we have undertaken so far on the fast-growing Muslim travel market, but has provided all stakeholders with some invaluable insight into how the halal-friendly tourism sector is growing and developing from a global perspective.
“CrescentRating has seen a recent huge shift towards more destinations targeting this sector like Japan and Taiwan, and it is a trend we expect to continue.”
“We are pleased to partner with CrescentRating to develop the Global Muslim Travel Index as we see it as an extension of our efforts in giving consumers peace of mind when travelling and using our payment products. Travel continues to be a core passion for consumers and we are confident the GMTI will prove to be a trusted resource for this important, fast-growing traveller segment,” said Matthew Driver, President, Southeast Asia, MasterCard.
All 100 destinations in the GMTI were scored against weighted criteria which included suitability as a family holiday destination, the level of services and facilities provided, accommodation options, marketing initiatives as well as visitor arrivals. Malaysia had an index score of 83.8, followed by Turkey at 73.8 and UAE at 72.1.
GMTI40, which will be updated quarterly around the year, will track the average score of the top 20 OIC and non-OIC destinations and will form the key index to monitor the performance of the Muslim travel segment.
The overall average score for 40 countries (GMTI40) currently stands at 56 while the overall average GMTI score for the complete 100 destinations is at 43.8. From a regional perspective, Asia Pacific destinations lead with an average GMTI score of 54.
The Top 10 OIC destinations of GMTI 2015
| Overall Rank |
GMTI 2015
Rank
|
Destination | Score | |||||
| 1 | 1 | Malaysia | 83.8 | |||||
| 2 | 2 | Turkey | 73.8 | |||||
| 3 | 3 | UAE | 72.1 | |||||
| 4 | 4 | Saudi Arabia | 71.3 | |||||
| 5 | 5 | Qatar | 68.2 | |||||
| 6 | 6 | Indonesia | 67.5 | |||||
| 7 | 7 | Oman | 66.7 | |||||
| 8 | 8 | Jordan | 66.4 | |||||
| 9 | 10 | Morocco | 64.4 | |||||
| 10 | 11 | Brunei | 64.3 | |||||
| Overall Rank |
GMTI 2015
Rank
|
Destination | Score | |||||
| 1 | 9 | Singapore | 65.1 | |||||
| 2 | 20 | Thailand | 59.2 | |||||
| 3 | 25 | United Kingdom | 55.0 | |||||
| 4 | 30 | South Africa | 51.1 | |||||
| 5 | 31 | France | 48.2 | |||||
| 6 | 32 | Belgium | 47.5 | |||||
| 7 | 33 | Hong Kong | 47.5 | |||||
| 8 | 34 | US | 47.3 | |||||
| 9 | 35 | Spain | 46.5 | |||||
| 10 | 36 | Taiwan | 46.2 | |||||
The year before, the top Muslim-friendly OIC destinations were Malaysia, UAE, Turkey, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Qatar, Tunisia and Egypt in that order. Tunisia and Egypt are no longer in the top 10, having been replaced by Oman and Brunei.
The top 2013 Muslim-friendly non-OIC destinations were Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, United Kingdom, Bosnia & Herzegovina, India, Hong Kong, Germany, Australia and Tanzania in that order. France, Belgium, the US, Spain and Taiwan have replaced Bosnia & Herzegovina, India, Germany, Australia and Tanzania. While Japan is on neither list, the country has been working hard on welcoming the Muslim dollar.
Read the report here.