JEDDAH — Malaysia was the top destination across the globe in the Muslim travel market, based on the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2015. Others in the top five among Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) destinations, were Turkey, UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Singapore came first among destinations that are not part of OIC, followed by Thailand, the United Kingdom, South Africa and France. The study also revealed that in 2014, this segment was worth $145 billion with 108 million Muslim travellers representing 10% of the entire travel economy. This is forecast to grow to 150 million visitors by 2020 and 11% of the market segment with a market value projected to grow to $200 billion. “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,” said Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating & HalalTrip. 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. All 100 destinations in the GMTI were scored against a backdrop of criteria which included suitability as a family holiday destination. — SG/Agencies
