Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT):
Understanding the Supply and Demand Sides
In the OIC Member Countries
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b) Prayer Facilities
There are many mosques in Indonesia, approximately 800,000 nationwide. Shopping malls,
theme parks, airports, etc. all have prayer rooms. Even some restaurants have prayer rooms
for diners to pray.
c) Ramadhan Services
Indonesia being a predominantly Muslim country, is a comfortable destination for Muslim
during Ramadhan. However, there has not been much focused outreach to attract Muslim
visitors to Indonesia during Ramadhan.
d) Water friendly Washroom
This facility is not widely available in the hotels. A few hotels are now beginning to provide
rooms with their attach bathrooms having water friendly facilities.
e) No Non-Halal Activities and Recreational facilities and facilities with privacy
There are growing number of facilities, especially Hotels who are catering to this need. Sofian
Hotel group has more than 10 hotels which it calls as “Shariah compliant” hotels.
Demand Side Analysis
a) Leisure Travel
Leisure is the majority of travel into Indonesia. Shopping, sightseeing and dining are a few key
attractions in this regard.
Islamic culture is prominent in Sumatra, and a few of the remaining sultanate palaces can be
seen in Medan and Tanjung Pinang. As such Islamic heritage tourism is also popular, especially
among Indonesian Muslims and Muslims from neighbouring countries such as Malaysia,
Singapore and Brunei that share a common Southeast Asian Islamic heritage. The activity is
usually linked with “ziyarat” (visits) to historical Islamic sites, such as historical mosques and
tombs of venerated Islamic figures.
b) Business Travel
This is an emerging sector for Indonesia. The country is attempting to grow the MICE market
segment. Indonesia is also eager to develop the Muslim Lifestyle related events. The annual
Indonesia Halal Expo is a 4-day event and was held this year was from 30th September to the
3rd October 2015 at the Jakarta International Expo (JIExpo). These kinds of events attract the
Muslim travelers. In 2014 a conference was held on the Soft Launching on Enhancing Sharia
Tourism in Indonesia, Surabaya. Indonesia is also positioning itself to be a hub for Islamic
fashion. This could lead to events related to this segment.