Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT):
Understanding the Supply and Demand Sides
In the OIC Member Countries
1
Executive Summary
Globally, travel & tourism is one of the biggest economic drivers, which not only creates
cultural bonds but also contributes to the economic advancement of the world. Tourism
industry contributes nine percent of the global GDP. One out of eleven jobs is related to the
travel and tourism industry. In 2014 the revenue generated through this segment was 6
percent of the total world’s exports1 .
The growth of the Muslim travelers is a new emerging segment within the travel sector, which
will affect the global tourism industry. According to Pew Research, 1 out of 3 people born
between 1990 and 2030 will be Muslim. Hence, the Muslim population could increase to 2.2
billion by 20302 .
Given the inherent strengths to cater to the Muslim travelers, the OIC member states have a
unique opportunity to gain a greater share of this growing segment and increase the overall
tourist arrivals to their destinations. Muslim visitor arrivals were estimated to be 116 million
in 2014, and are projected to grow to 178 million by 2020. This constitutes around 11.4
percent of the total visitor arrivals projected by 2020. Given that by 2020 the Muslim
population will be around 26 percent of the world’s population, the Muslim travel market
should have sustained growth beyond 2020 3. This worldwide growth of the Muslim population
in the middle class and younger population has meant that Muslim travelers are becoming a
significant segment within the global travel and tourism sector. However, currently only
Malaysia, Indonesia and UAE have a National Tourism Organization (NTO) driven program to
target the Muslim Friendly Tourism market.
In 2014, Muslim visitor arrivals to OIC destinations were around 64 million, i.e. 55.3 percent of
total Muslims travelers. At current growth rates, this is projected to reach 98 million by 2020.
However, by implementing the recommendations contained in this study, the member states
can expedite this growth to reach higher number of arrivals by 2020. It is recommended to
target 100 million Muslim visitor arrivals to OIC destinations by 2020.
Table 1: Inbound Muslim Visitor arrivals for the period 2010 to 2020
Year
2010
Year
2014
Year
2020
Growth
Forecast
(2015-2020)
Total Muslim Visitor Arrivals (millions) 98 116 180 54.50
Total Muslim Visitor Arrivals to OIC (millions) 53 64 98 51.87
Total Muslim Visitor Arrivals to non-OIC
(millions)
45 52 82 57.75
Source: CrescentRating (2015)
1 World Tourism Organization (2015); UNWTO Tourism Highlights; Madrid, Spain.
2 Pew Research Centre Forum on Religious and Public Life (2014); The Future of the Global Muslim Population; Washington,
DC USA, Pew Research
3 Crescentrating (2015); Singapore