Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT):

Understanding the Supply and Demand Sides

In the OIC Member Countries

Introduction

The Muslim population is growing rapidly and is expected to reach 26 percent of the world’s

population by 2030

. The growth of the Muslim

population and their increasing disposable

income have resulted in a large number of

Muslims taking up travel for leisure, business,

healthcare and religious reasons. This increase

has resulted in Muslim travelers becoming one

of the fastest growing travel segments in the

tourism industry.

Growth of Muslim Visitor Arrivals and

Expenditure

Based on this study, the travel sector

represented by Muslim travelers was worth

$121 billion in 2014 and the total number of

Muslim visitor arrivals reached to 116 million -

representing 10.2 percent of the global visitor

arrivals. It is projected that this will grow to 180

million by 2020 and will constitute 11.4 percent of the market with an expenditure projected

to be $212 billion. Figure 1 shows the Muslim visitor arrivals and expenditure for the years

2000 and 2014, and the forecast for 2020.

Figure 1: Muslim visitor arrivals and expenditure, 2000 to 2020

Source: CrescentRating (2015); UNWTO Tourism Highlights (2015)

During the last few years, awareness and adoption of faith-based practices by Muslim travelers

have also been growing. In the latest survey published in the Muslim Travel Shopping Index

(MTSI) 2015

, more than 80 percent of the respondents mentioned that having halal food

Pew Research centre Forum on Religious and Public Life (2014); The Future of the Global Muslim Population; Washington,

DC USA, Pew Research

MasterCard-CrescentRating (2015); Muslim Travel Shopping Index 2015 (MTSI); Singapore CrescentRating

QUICK FACTS

23%

of the world’s population in

2014 was Muslim

26%

of the world’s population is

projected to be Muslim in 2030

50%

of Muslims are under the age of

25 years

70%

of the Arab world population is

under the age of 25 years

66%

of the Muslim population is

under 30 in Europe and North

America

Source: CrescentRating (2015); UNWTO Tourism

Highlights (2015)