Mastercard and CrescentRating have released the third edition of the Halal in Travel Frontier Report.
This year’s report provides insights on the 16 key trends that will shape the next phase of halal tourism development in 2020. COVID-19 and the current halt to umrahs is not mentioned as the report was released in early February, at the beginning of the global outbreak.
Key trends discovered include the growing importance of mobile wallets among Muslim travellers, the rise of Muslim women travellers, and the interest among Muslim travellers to seek out less-popular tourist destinations:
Social impact
Driven by the global trend of social awareness and faith, a growing number of Muslim travellers are increasingly conscious of making a social impact when they travel.
Off-track destinations
With heightened concerns of over-tourism in popular destinations adversely impacting quality of life for residents and visitors, more people will choose to visit less-travelled destinations.
Overcoming Islamophobia
Even though hate crimes have been committed towards Muslims due to Islamophobia, Muslim travellers may still choose to visit such destinations out of necessity for business or to visit friends and relatives (VFR).
E-wallets
Enabled by advancements in security features such as facial recognition and biometrics, e-wallets and mobile payments are rapidly growing in popularity.
Female travellers
In 2018, Muslim women comprised 45% of the Muslim travel market. The continued growth of this segment in 2020 will lead to a greater dynamism of activities involving Muslim women travellers.
Halal gastronomy
As halal food becomes available in more destinations, services and operators will redesign their culinary activities to be inclusive and Muslim-friendly, pioneering a new wave of halal-centric gastronomy tours and activities.
The Daud Kim effect
With their effective reach and raw messaging, influencers like Daud Kim will play a positive role in changing mindsets and helping improve the perception of Muslim travellers around the world. Kim was a K-pop star and YouTuber who converted to Islam in Korea.
The Ertugrul phenomenon
This phenomenon has been spurred by a string of high-quality and well-produced shows inspired by Islamic history and heritage. Diriliş: Ertuğrul (Resurrection: Ertuğrul) is a Turkish TV series based on the history of the Muslim Oghuz Turks. Such shows have the same effects as Lord of the Rings for New Zealand, and K-drama and K-pop for Korea.
Responsible content sharing
While the debate on whether social media companies and governments should play a more active role in policing online behaviour continues, the responsible content-sharing of unique stories by diverse groups of people is emerging.
Resurrection of lost heritage sites and Islamic history
With moves to grow and promote tourism in Uzbekistan and KSA, 2020 will see the resurrection of lost heritage sites. More OIC destinations will embrace this trend and uncover heritage that may be of interest to Muslim visitors.
Sustainability
Sustainability will become increasingly central to shaping both business and consumer decisions in the tourism sector. Future travellers will begin to reward destinations and companies that are able to provide quality services while being ecofriendly and culturally respectful.
Umrah DIY
With the launch of the new electronic tourist visas to KSA and uploading the umrah services inventory online, the next opportunity for the umrah market will be in the evolution into the digital space.
Halal lifestyle events
Halal lifestyle events will no longer be in the emergent phase of the conference and exhibitions industry. Their maturity will be signalled by a shift towards better-quality events.
Business travel as-a-service
The meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) sector has been slow to respond to the growth of the Muslim market. That is beginning to change now as the wave of Muslim travel influence is spreading to the MICE sector.
Halal tourism
Destinations that traditionally have held prominence among non-Muslims may find obstacles driving halal tourism. These destinations will drive a more Muslim-friendly narrative to ensure a more inclusive environment.
Ready for Gen Z and Gen Alpha
This year, Gen Z Muslims will enter the workforce and will play a key role in determining the next phase of halal travel. In addition, Gen Alpha will enter the picture as another set of travellers who will shape travel behaviours for Muslim families.
In October 2019 Mastercard and CrescentRating also released research that valued the Muslim women travel market at US$80 billion globally. Twenty-eight percent of Muslim women journeys in 2018 were solo travels, indicative of a growing younger demographic willing to experience the world, the organisations said.
An estimated 63 million Muslim women travelers spent over US$80 billion on their journeys in 2018, a number only expected to grow as these women’s disposable income is on the rise, with most of the population setting off on trips two to three times per year.
Raudha Zaini, Head of Marketing of CrescentRating & HalalTrip, noted at the time of the report launch that Muslim women's travel behaviour is driven by three 'E's: explore, energise and empathise.
Some findings included:
- Two-thirds were aged 40 or younger.
- Over half of them use some form of
social media to scope out accommodation, logistics and dining.
- Lifestyle and community values are core to Muslim women’s trips. Leisure takes precedence (90%), followed by religious travel (21%) and then business (11%).
- They exert considerable influence in trip planning regardless of their travel party, but most, i.e. 71%, travel with their families, and therefore prefer family-friendly destinations.
- Priorities include halal dining (94% of respondents said this is a travel priority); female-only prayer rooms (86%) and single-gender spas and beauty salons (79%). Social justice, an important part of the faith, also influences journeys, with 73% seeking ecofriendly travel options abroad.
Explore:
Download the Mastercard-CrescentRatingHalal in Travel Frontier 2020 Report and the
Muslim Women In Travel 2019 report