Muslim tourist growth pegged at 4.8% by 2020
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Catering to Muslim tourist is a niche market that is growing according to a recent study – ‘Global Muslim Lifestyle Travel Market: Landscape & Consumer Needs’. The study reveals that Muslim tourists globally represent a major niche market worth US$126.1 billion in 2011 growing at a 4.8% through 2020, compared to global average of 3.8%.
The study further highlights how airlines, tourism destinations, and hotels/resorts can benefit by engaging with a market that has a young demographic, is growing in affluence, and is increasingly asserting its unique needs on the tourism industry.
The Study estimates that the global Muslim tourism market of US$126.1 billion in outbound expenditure is 12.3% of the total global outbound tourism expenditure in 2011. The Muslim tourist spending is set to grow to US$192 billion by 2020 representing 13.4% of the global expenditure. Comparatively, this Muslim tourism market as a whole is larger than the largest spending tourist market in the world – Germany – and almost twice that of China’s in 2011.
“With the rapid growth of the Muslim travelers, there was a need for a comprehensive global study on this segment of travelers. This study highlights how to evaluate the potential of the Muslim lifestyle travel market by region, and develop key engagement frameworks for a high impact market strategy,” said Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of Crescentrating
The Study has been released by DinarStandard, a New York-based marketing research and advisory firm focused on the Muslim markets and Crescentrating, development of Halal-friendly travel. The study covers the largest outbound and inbound Muslim travel markets.
Rafi-uddin Shikoh, managing director of DinarStandard, futher added: “Muslim tourists may very well be the largest un-tapped niche market of the tourism Industry. Airlines, destinations and hotels/resorts can benefit tremendously by catering to lifestyle travel drivers such as Halal food, family friendly environments, religious practices accommodation, gender relation nuances, and other areas.”
Key insights:
- MENA markets represent 60% of total global Muslim tourist outbound expenditure in 2011
- The top Outbound Muslim tourism source country in 2011 is Saudi Arabia with followed by Iran, UAE, Indonesia and Kuwait
- Muslim communities living in non-Muslim countries also have sizable outbound tourism expenditure share. The largest of these markets are Germany, Russia, France and UK
- The top destinations for Muslim tourists are Malaysia, Turkey, and UAE. Followed by Singapore, Russia, China France, Thailand and Italy
- Important aspects to a Muslim tourist while travelling – Halal Food (67%), Overall price (53%), and Muslim-friendly experience (49%).