Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT):
Understanding the Supply and Demand Sides
In the OIC Member Countries
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Abu Dhabi is also positioning to attract the family travelers. The Emirate witnessed the
opening of Louvre Abu Dhabi in Saadiyat Cultural District in 2015. In addition, the Zayed
National Museum is due to open in 2016.
Sharjah in the recent past has also been conducting halal conferences and MFT has been
discussed in a number of them. It is positioning itself as the “Sharjah Islamic Culture Capital.”
b) Business Travel
UAE has become a regional hub for meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions. Most
regional MNC headquarters are located in Dubai. It is now hosting a number of major
international exhibitions and events.
It continues to attract major international events. The city hosts the Arabian Travel Market
(ATM) which is the market leading, international travel and tourism event annually at the
Dubai World Trade Centre. The major food exhibition “Gulf Food” also organized in Dubai.
Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA Abu Dhabi) is also actively promoting Abu
Dhabi as a business travel destination. Founded in 2005, Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions
Company wants to be the most successful exhibition, conference and events center in the
region. Apart from owning Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre and Al Ain Convention
Centre, it also owns the ExCeL London, the largest exhibition venue in London.
Abu Dhabi is also positioning itself as the “Halal Travel” destination of choice in the region. As a
part of that initiative, the inaugural World Halal Travel Summit” was held in October 2015.
c) Healthcare Travel
The government introduced a medical tourism visa to help the advancement of this market
segment. Aim of the new visa is to remove existing barriers and enable the further growth of
the health and wellness sector. Foreign medical practitioners and medical specialist are now
able to work in UAE for a limited period of time. The advantage of this is to facilitate access to
international medical professionals. The result of these changes could aid the growth in the
number of tourist seeking medical services in the country.
According to government sources, UAE aims to attract about half a million medical tourists by
2020 and increase the medical tourism contribution to the economy by US$708 million.
Medical infrastructure is expected to be developed around 4 public hospitals, 18 private
hospitals and increase in the number of healthcare staff in the private-sector by 3,800.
OIC countries which the private hospitals in UAE will target include Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan
and Gulf States. Treatments to be offered include plastic surgery, orthopedics and sports
medicine, dental procedures, ophthalmology, and dermatology.