Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services
In the OIC Member Countries
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 Finally, facilitating the visa process for many Muslim majority countries and an
official stand by the national institutions in charge of developing and promoting
tourism in Spain would also help to develop this market.
 SME’s do not advertise their services as MFT like in the case of Al Nur Restaurant and
Alana Hotel.
9. Lessons learned
 The MFT industry in Spain is still in its infancy but has a great potential. At the
moment it is mainly driven by SME’s that are leading the efforts to develop a MFT
infrastructure, create awareness in the national tourism institutions, the general
tourism industry in Spain, and working towards the promotion of Spain as a MFT
destination in the countries of origin.
 There are some great examples that can be applied to other markets. In terms of
awareness of the industry in Spain the Instituto Halal is the driving force, they are
developing the mechanisms to create a full MFT ecosystem in Spain. The project
‘Cordoba Halal’ is a good example of this; according to Mariam Isabel Romero,
Instituto Halal’s General Director, they were the first to coin the term ‘Halal city’ and
to begin its development with Cordoba. Since then other places have started using it,
such as California or in Buenos Aires.
 Their initiatives to work with the Chambers of Commerce in different cities in Spain,
such as they are doing with Seville’s Chamber of Commerce, is a good example of how
to work with local authorities when the national ones do not seem to show an
interest.
 The efforts of some tour operators to attract more visitors are also productive. Tariq
Mahmood, from Andalucian Routes, has recognized that one of the main incentives of
Muslims to visit Spain is its Islamic cultural and historical heritage. Given the relative
lack of promotion of this aspect by the national tourism institutions, he often travels
to give talks about the Islamic history and culture of Spain all over the world.
 The Seville Mosque Foundation is working on a project to create awareness about the
need of an Islamic Cultural Centre and Mosque in Seville. This project involves the
promotion of Spain as a MFT destination through direct marketing to millions of
followers of the social media celebrities involved in the project. This is a great
example of how to create a win-win situation: the social media celebrities increase
their following by offering unique and interesting content whilst at the same time the
Seville Mosque Foundation promotes its objectives.
 All of this has resulted in an exponential increase in the number of Muslims that visit
Spain each year, but the potential is still not being fully exploited. For this to happen
two things should occur: first, the Spanish government tourism organizations should
recognize the MFT market as a key market and put in place policies, guidelines and
institutional help for its development; second, a higher private investment is required
to develop the MFT infrastructure necessary to host more Muslim travelers.