Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT):
Understanding the Supply and Demand Sides
In the OIC Member Countries
96
Demand Side Analysis (Reasons and Motivation for travel)
a) Religious Travel
There is no inbound travel to Singapore for religious reasons.
b) Leisure Travel
This is the majority of travel into Singapore. Shopping and dining are some of the key
attractions.
Indonesian Muslims are one of the largest visitors to Singapore. This is aided by budget airline
flights from Singapore to Surabaya and Jakarta. In addition, many Muslim tourists from
Indonesia travel frequently to Singapore for the shopping and entertainment. Visiting family
and friends is also an important reason for their travel to Singapore. A number of Indonesian
Muslims have investment in Singapore. This could be a holiday apartment or investment in the
country. Visitor arrivals from Malaysia to Singapore grew strongly with a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of 9 percent over the period 2010-2014. The growth in visitor arrivals
from Malaysia coincided with the opening of air routes between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore
to Low-cost Carriers (LCC). So popular were the LCCs that they overtook Full Service Carriers
(FSC) as the choice mode of air travel to Singapore.
The top considerations when visitors from Malaysia plan for a holiday are travel budget and
the availability of travel promotions. Due to these travel promotions by airlines, Malaysians
generally plan their trip in advance to take advantage of the low fares.
The proliferation of the Internet has also changed the way visitors from Malaysia plan and
book their trips as they now use the internet to get ideas and information for travel
destinations and activities. This is especially so for Malaysians when they travel to Singapore,
as there is a strong reliance on online sources, particularly social media, for recommendations
and places to visit.
Fawad Khan of Singapore Airlines based in Jeddah and Saudi Arabia mentioned that the issues
hampering the inbound tourism market into Singapore from the Middle East was the visa
requirements. Singapore government started enforcing strictly the requirement of a Letter of
Introduction (LOI) for Saudi national seeking a visa to Singapore. This LOI is a sponsorship letter
from a Singaporean to a Saudi tourist responsible for their travel into the country. Without this
letter a visa would not be issued.
Any Singapore Citizen or Singapore Permanent Resident who is at least 21 years old can act as
a local contact. If they are not able to furnish a LOI from a local contact, then they may
approach the Singapore Embassy to issue a LOI to support their visa application.
In contrast nationals from United Arab Emirates do not require a visa for travel to Singapore.
According to a comment made by Mohamed Firhan, Arabs are increasingly performing price
comparison between destinations before selecting a holiday. With the recent currency turmoil,
Malaysia emerges as a very competitive location. However, many Arabs are of the opinion that
Singapore provides a better tourism experience.