Sun, sea and Saudi: How countries around the world are courting Muslim tourists
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Sun, body of water and Saudi: How countries around the world are courtship Muslim tourists
As Muslims are expected to spend an estimated S$244 billion on travel this year – a figure set to increase to S$380 billion by 2023 – countries effectually the world are ramping up efforts to cater to the needs of halal tourists.
Saudi Arabia'south Al-Nefud desert. (Photograph: Unsplash/Abah al Shammary)
29 May 2022 06:30AM (Updated: 04 Jul 2022 05:22PM)
Imagine a pristine, dominicus-kissed coastline stretching for more than a yard miles. Retrieve of white sands locked between wild, rocky red mountains and warm crystal waters, and hardly a soul to be seen. It all sounds idyllic.
But then consider this is Saudi arabia, a country with plans to attract thirty million international leisure visitors a year by 2030. This represents a substantial increase over the 18 million who currently travel in that location mainly for business or to observe Muslim religious obligations.
Saudi is non alone, though it is most definitely starting out from a lower rung than nigh other countries, given the traditionally closed nature of its gild and its emphasis on religious tourism. But the tremendous sums of money spent by Muslims on travel each year is tantalising for a nation that is desperate to wean its economy off oil revenues past opening up new segments similar travel.
Halal tourism is a grab-all term for Muslim leisure travellers who want the convenience to notice their faith while on holiday. There is no set definition, however. Some operators might offering little more an alcohol-free restaurant serving halal nutrient. Others volition go as far as banning any booze from their bounds and offering segregated beaches and pools and so women and young children can sunbathe in complete privacy.
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Facilities similar prayer rooms, the qibla, or arrow to indicate the direction of Mecca, in bedrooms are also available at all Muslim-friendly hotels, as are copies of the Quran.
According to the latest State of the Global Islamic Economic system report by Thomson Reuters, Muslims will spend an estimated United states of america$177 billion (S$244 billion) on travel around the globe this twelvemonth. Though this figure is currently proportionate to overall travel spending, it is rising. The same report predicts Muslims will be spending an additional US$100 billion on their travels in four years' time.
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Fazal Bahardeen, founder of Singapore-based Crescentrating, which assesses travel and tourism services for their Muslim friendliness, believes the Islamic tourism market is "evolving".
"The market for Muslim travellers is seeing growth, which is leading to more facilities and services emerging for them," Bahardeen said. "Hotels in particular are really starting to see the potential of the Muslim traveller and we are witnessing more and more getting into halal tourism."
Turkey is arguably the leader in the more bourgeois grade of halal tourism. After Malaysia, Indonesia and the UAE, it is the fourth most popular destination for tourists seeking Islamic comforts.
Its authorities has added halal tourism to the priorities for its electric current economical plan and is providing incentives to convert conventional hotels into ones that are halal-friendly. This twelvemonth, Crescentrating named Turkey the globe's 3rd-best halal tourist destination, later on Republic of indonesia and Malaysia.
"When it comes to beach resorts, Turkey has a lot of these and they're very well established. They are showtime to understand the potential of halal tourism and have carved out this niche market that you don't find anywhere else," said Bahardeen.
Turkey is an established tourist destination, however, whereas Saudi is starting pretty much from scratch. Simply information technology attempting to make its offer attractive to newcomers and visitors who might previously only have visited for umrah or hajj.
Getting a visa for Saudi has long been considered a thankless task, even for Muslims. The electric current system only allows just 2-week visas for business travellers, pilgrims or visitors who have family in the country. These are expensive and often tricky to obtain.
Last year, though, it announced plans to open up visas to more than tourists, both Muslim and non-Muslim, including assuasive women over the age of 25 without a chaperone. Though this system was confirmed recently, it is still not known when it will go into performance.
Information technology volition demand to issue enough of visas to fill up all the hotels that are being congenital, especially those that are part of a 34,000 foursquare kilometre tourism region on the Cerise Body of water coast that will include a lagoon of 50 islands known for their articulate waters and desirable reef diving.
The project was announced past Saudi's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, and is commencement phase of some 30,000 rooms volition open in 2022.
"Tourism has at present opened a new borderland of destinations that was never discovered before in Saudi Arabia," said Neethiahnanthan Ari Ragavan, dean of Taylor University's Faculty of Hospitality, Food & Leisure Management.
"This brilliant move opens a new door to the earth of travel and tourism equally Saudi gets to expand its rich historical and cultural destination to the world."
Other countries are also fighting to proceeds footing as the halal market place expands. The segment's heavyweights, Malaysia and Indonesia, rely on mass tourism, and are leaders in terms of halal arrivals. Their Islamic heritage means most of their hotels are Muslim-friendly, though the countries identify less emphasis on their Islamic credentials than Turkey'due south new generation of halal resorts.
More surprisingly, nearby Cambodia recently began targeting Muslim visitors from the Middle East in particular, in a bid to lower its reliance on Chinese visitors. A predominantly Buddhist land, it has set out to promote its longstanding Muslim civilization and even boasts a minister for Muslims, who has been encouraging more establishments to become halal.
One to watch out for is up-and-coming South Africa, which though its ain Muslim tradition tin provide everything needed to attract Muslim luxury tourists, according to Sadiq Dindar, marketing manager at Due south African Tourism.
"Beingness the Rainbow Nation, nosotros are really open to many cultures, so we find we are well positioned to attract the Muslim traveller," he said. "When they come here, they experience that they are function of the locals, because the locals are very strong on their civilization."
Equally these countries set out to courtroom more than Muslim visitors, they would be brash to keep an eye on the sub-segments that are evolving, Bahardeen believes. These include halal cruises and destinations with unique offerings, like women-only diving trips. He says that past doing then, Saudi in particular will practice well in rebranding itself every bit a holiday destination.
"If they position that right, they will be successful. Halal travel doesn't need to be very unlike to conventional travel, information technology just needs to give Muslims what they need. It will take time to institute Saudi equally a beach destination. But it can tap into the emotional link it has ever had with Muslim travellers."
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