According to a MasterCard study, the United Arab Emirates ranked the second most popular holiday destination worldwide for Muslims.
A 2016 MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) study showed the popularity of the UAE tourism market for Muslims from all over the world. Emirates took second place in the overall ranking after Malaysia.
According to GMTI, the total number of Muslim tourists worldwide for the year reached 117 million people, which is almost 10% of the tourism market. By 2020, the segment's share is projected to grow to 11% (168 million people). In monetary terms, the figure will exceed $ 200 billion.
The key drivers for the growth of the Muslim segment of the tourism market are population growth, an expanding middle class, a younger population, easier access to tourist information and increased access to tourism services targeted at Muslims. Unhindered internet access combined with high smartphone penetration made travel planning easier overall.
The countries of Asia and Europe have also been named as the two leading regions in the world for attracting Muslim tourists.
The study focused on the study of 130 areas, serving in 2015 more than 95% of the segment. Among them are 48 countries that are members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and 82 that are not its members.
Fazal Bahardin, CEO of CrescentRating & HalalTrip, said: “One of the hottest trends we are seeing today is the efforts of countries outside the Islamic Cooperation Organization to attract Muslim tourists. Now, these areas form over 63% of the market monitored by the GMTI. ”
The study showed that Indonesia climbed two points, taking fourth place, while Bahrain took 10th place, breaking the path to 4 points.
Singapore maintained its winning position among countries outside the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, forming the first five in this context together with Thailand, the United Kingdom, South Africa and Hong Kong.
