Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT):
Understanding the Supply and Demand Sides
In the OIC Member Countries
6
The United Kingdom (desk-based case study)
Due to its growing local middle class Muslim population, there are many Halal food outlets and
Muslim friendly services across the UK. This has also meant that there is a steady growth of
Muslim visitor arrivals to the UK. In 2014, Muslim Visitor arrivals to the UK accounted for 6.6
percent of the total arrivals compared to 6.0 percent in 2010.
The key strength is its local Muslim population. UK has over 2.8 million Muslims people which
is a large population for a non-OIC country. This has resulted in the development of a many
Halal food and Muslim friendly services. It also has a number of Halal Certification bodies with
some of them focusing on Halal restaurant certification.
OIC Clusters
Based on the study analysis, the OIC member states have been grouped into 4 clusters to
develop strategies for the MFT target. These clusters are Group A – Leaders, Group B- Best
positioned for growth, Group C- Potential for growth and Group D – Need to develop.
Group A cluster includes Malaysia, Turkey and the UAE. They are currently the leaders in
attracting the Muslim leisure market. Group B which includes, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Indonesia,
Oman, Jordan and Morocco are well placed to target the MFT market. Group C consists of
markets that offer unique opportunities for example Kuwait or Iran. Group D countries will
need to look at some niche experiences initially and target a sub-segment of the MFT market.
A SWOT analysis is provided for each grouping. All these groups have the potential to target
the MFT market at different levels and with different positioning. In order to leapfrog
competition, OIC member states need to look at developing their strategies along the themes
such as “Quality Tourism” as well as to develop an eco-system of entrepreneurs and startups in
the MFT space.
Challenges facing growth of MFT in the OIC member countries
- Security concerns; Many governments have issued travel advisory requesting its
citizens not to travel unless absolutely necessary to some of the OIC destinations.
Majority of Muslim tourists travel with family and generally want more family-friendly
activities such as shopping, sightseeing, theme park, nature reserve or museum.
- Lack of proper identification of halal food outlets; A number of OIC member states
have not developed a comprehensive identification process which could correctly
inform tourist that the food offered at a particularly dining establishment is halal.
- Limited support and participation from government to promote MFT; In many
OIC member states, the government has not yet engaged the travel industry with the
development of MFT. Lack of incentives and motivation by the government to develop
the tourism sector will curtail growth of the MFT market.
- Increasing competition from non-OIC countries; Singapore, Japan and South Korea
are examples for non-OIC countries which are keenly targeting the Muslim tourists. In
addition, Australia and Thailand are also seeking to attract the Muslim traveler. In