Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services
In the OIC Member Countries
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restaurants on the other hand must be certified, same case with organic restaurants.
Governments should strive to push the certification of all Halal restaurants and ensure
compliance.
Restaurant review sites . The crowd-sourced restaurant review website Yelp provides reviews
on restaurants, cafes and other local businesses. Similarly provides reviews on
Halal restaurants, cafes and shops globally. However, Muslims are equally active on Yelp,
providing reviews on Halal restaurants. There is an opportunity for Muslim food review sites
to strengthen their branding to be the main frame of reference for Halal restaurant reviews.
Meal sharing . The growth of the sharing economy has spurred the emergence of several meal
sharing websites such as EatWith, which allows travelers to enjoy a meal prepared by a local
and served at the local person’s home. There is no similar service for Muslim travelers, and
meals offered on these platforms are usually accompanied by alcohol and are not Halal.
Travel Agencies
Mainstream travel agencies tend to be more specialized than MFT agencies. Mainstream
agencies tend to focus on specific market segments, such as families or honeymooners, as well
as certain travel themes such as adventure travel and voluntourism. In the United States for
example, there are travel agencies focused on students such as STA Travel, on cruises such as
Cruises International in South Africa. Survey respondents indicated that they were interested
in themed trips such as heritage experiences and adventure travel. Travel agencies serving
the MFT market would do well to focus on specific products and target market. For agencies
in countries in which the MFT market is not well developed, they may target the Muslim
market in addition to other market segments.
Ancillary Services
Traditionally travel agencies and online travel agencies have been providing some of the
travel-related ancillary services such as travel insurance. Additional travel services such as
health insurance, passport and visa services, and currency exchange tend to be provided by
separate providers. For some of these ancillary services there is an opportunity to offer a MFT
version. For example instead of mainstream travel insurance, takaful based travel insurance
can be provided.
Activities
There are many mainstream companies that focus on tours and activities, such as Viator and
TripAdvisor. Tripfez , it is an online marketplace to search and book Muslim-friendly tours,
activities and experiences. In April, 2016, Tripfez raised $750,000 in seed investment which it
will use for expansion.
Islamic heritage sites ranked fourth (after total cost, Muslim-friendly services, and friendliness of
locals) in terms of important criteria for choosing a destination. Therefore OIC countries that
have Islamic heritage sites would be well advised to promote them to Muslim travelers as well as
enhance the product offering and train tourist guides. For Spain, one of the main incentives for
Muslims to visit Spain is its Islamic cultural and historical heritage. OIC countries should also
improve the conservation of heritage sites and develop infrastructure facilities to cater to the
needs of tourists.