Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT):
Understanding the Supply and Demand Sides
In the OIC Member Countries
8
 Capturing opportunities in the niche sub-segment within MFT. There is a lack of
supply for the sub-segment of Muslim visitor who are looking for facilities and services
which do not have non-halal activities as well as recreational facilities and services
which provide privacy. Some OIC destinations could look at getting a certain
percentage of hospitality services catering to this need.
 Developing healthcare services and facilities for the Muslim market. OIC member
states could look at identifying strengths of healthcare services among the OIC
member states, and develop specialized hubs of healthcare services. This could then
lead to a plan to encourage intra-OIC healthcare services.
 Developing a MFT alliance. Travel agents and tour operators are able to play a key
role in enabling the growth of the MFT market in OIC destinations. It is possible to
launch an alliance of travel agents/tour operators in OIC countries targeting the MFT
market.
 Developing an environment for innovation and entrepreneurship on MFT
related products and services. The environment in which tourism companies
operate is rapidly changing and there is generally more volatility, uncertainty and
complexity. In this respect, it is better to develop an incubation setup to encourage
startups and entrepreneurs to develop products and services for the MFT market. Such
an initiative could also be looked at from ICDB (Integrated Communications Database)
perspective.
 Developing unique MFT based destination positioning and marketing. Currently
very limited efforts have been made by OIC member states to reach out to the Muslim
travelers with a clear MFT-centric destination positioning. Exceptions are Malaysia,
UAE and Indonesia. This is a broad area and requires the development of a
comprehensive plan to position and promote the OIC destinations as the choice
destinations for Muslims, especially the leisure travelers. This entails branding,
content development and promotion.
In summary, Muslim tourists globally represent a major niche market—a market that
has a younger population, growing middle class and is increasingly asserting its unique
needs on the travel, tourism and hospitality market. Though, MFT is still at an early
stage. OIC member states have inherent strengths which can be exploited to maximize
its share of the market. This will require an extensive private and public sector
partnerships / handholding along with a developing a vibrant startup environment to
ensure OIC member states are not overtaken by non-OIC destinations in the MFT
space.