Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services
In the OIC Member Countries
121
Policy Global
Initiatives
MFT Initiatives Gaps/Opportunities
SME Support  Establishing
portal for tourism
SMEs
 Training
 Marketing
support
 Training tourism suppliers
 Subsidies
 Facilitate Halal certification
 Marketing support
 Train tourism suppliers   ʘ
 Facilitate Halal certification  ʘ
 Provide subsidies  ʘ
 Establish portal for SMEs  ʘ
 Include MFT travelers as a
segment in tourism and
hospitality courses  
Government Policies
Easing visa policies: Countries globally ease their visa policies towards countries they wish to
attract more tourists from. Therefore, to encourage increased visitors from neighboring OIC
countries, nations would do well to ease their visa restrictions to those countries. For example,
Azerbaijan has lifted the visa requirements for UAE nationals.315
Providing subsidies: Several OIC as well as non-OIC countries provide subsidies to tourism
suppliers specifically in regards to obtaining Halal certification. Governments that wish to better
regulate this market should provide subsidies to encourage suppliers to obtain Halal
certification.
Establishing a national MFT committee. In 2015 Indonesia established a national committee,
reporting to the Minister of tourism, focused on MFT travel. Similarly, other countries have
established similar bodies to focus on the development and marketing of MFT travel.
Facilitating Halal regulation and compliance. OIC countries should closely regulate the Halal food
industry and monitor compliance of suppliers as well as encourage certification. Halal rating and
certification services for hotels and restaurants was the top need selected by survey
respondents. In Malaysia hotels that apply for the conventional star rating must also meet certain
conditions that directly relate to being Muslim-friendly. Others wishing to further cater to
Muslim tourists may apply for Malaysia’s Muslim Friendly Hospitality Services standard (MFHS).
Designating certain destinations for MFT. Indonesia has designated three provinces in the
country, based on certain criteria, for Halal tourism. This way, it is able to focus its efforts in
terms of product development and marketing on those destinations before expanding to other
destinations in the country.
Tourism infrastructure development fund. Malaysia established a tourism infrastructure
development fund to support the development of tourism related real estate projects, by offering
mortgage assistance. Other OIC countries may similarly consider setting up a fund to support
MFT real estate projects.
Government led destination marketing
Brand Identity. Destinations should develop a brand identity which defines how they would like
to be perceived by Muslim travelers. For example, Miami’s brand identity is of it being a
glamorous city.316 A MFT related example is Malaysia’s use of the slogan ‘Muslim Friendly
Malaysia’ alongside it’s mainstream slogans ‘Malaysia Truly Asia’, and ‘2015 – Year of Festivals’.
The joint use of these slogans alongside other branding elements, including marketing materials
315 "Azerbaijan Entry Visa Requirements Lifted for UAE Nationals The National. 11 Nov. 2015. Web. 23 June 2016.
316 Oates, Greg, “Interview: Miami Tourism CEO Explains the Essence of Destination Branding” Skift. 10th Sept., 2015