Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services
In the OIC Member Countries
20
The leisure, recreation, and holidays travel purpose segment includes beach vacations, tours,
cruises, city breaks, visiting cultural or heritage locations, and engaging in adventure travel.
Business travel is another travel purpose segment, which can be defined by traveling for
conferences, business meetings, and other work-related commitments.
Voluntourism, which is gaining popularity, combines volunteering and tourism to give
individuals an opportunity to contribute their time effectively to help those in need, while
visiting a foreign country. Voluntourism companies include The Planterra Foundation and STA
Travel, which are international organizations that use a global network of travelers to support
social solutions.9 Doctors without Borders and Engineers without Borders are other
international humanitarian aid non-governmental organizations, which allow specific
professionals to work in developing countries to provide aid and assistance.
Sports tourism has also become common with international events including the Olympics and
FIFA World Cup soccer tournaments, which attract individuals to support their individual
countries in sports competitions. 10
Religious and cultural travel can be recognized with organizations focused on providing trips to
individuals to discover their heritage. For example, Qalam Institute, based in USA, offers 10-day
heritage tour packages in Turkey to learn about the Islamic history in the region.
1.2.2 Tourism Marketing Mix
The Tourism marketing mix includes tourism products and services (described later), pricing,
promotion and distribution.
Figure 6: Tourism Marketing Mix
Source: DinarStandard, Research and Advisory
9 Chamberlin, Kaitlyn. “ Voluntourism 101: The Dos and Don’ts for Planning a Volunteer Vacation.” U.S.NewsandWorld
Report. 15 Jul. 2015
10 Mintel. “ Sports TourismWorldwide - December 2012.”