Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services
In the OIC Member Countries
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organizations include national economic development agencies, national tourism boards, city
councils, and tourism info centers.
The UN World Tourism Organization promotes accessible tourism globally and provides
assistance to countries to help local communities develop domestic tourism. According to
IBISWorld, the organization helps develop Master Tourism Plans, individual tourist attractions,
and tourism recovery for post war communities.
Local travel agencies within the United States have used social media applications including
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to engage with consumers in Michigan, Los Angeles,
Philadelphia and also Queensland in Australia. Acquisition of users and user engagement figures
have become key performance indicators in marketing groups to determine the quality of
community interaction.
Destination Marketing Organizations are also implementing best practices to promote tourism,
which include the use of artificial intelligence, collaboration with shared accommodation
platforms, and networking with businesses vested in tourism segments to develop new products
and schedule special events. 19
Pricing and Distribution: Marketers also factor in pricing models and spend for marketing
strategies to decide if they would like to use cost based, demand based or competition based
pricing. Distribution refers to the channels where customers can purchase products and services
for tourism purposes that provide content and communications to the customer directly, which
include online booking websites, travel agencies, and mobile booking applications.
1.2.3 Global Tourism Products/Services and Marketing Landscape
The products/services providers of the global tourism landscape cover a diverse range of sectors
broken down into five key categories of transportation, accommodation, travel services, food and
beverage, and activities. The largest tourism players include global airlines, hotels and travel
agencies and there are over 1.5 million establishments servicing the global tourism industry,
according to IBISWorld.20 The large number of services shows the fragmented nature of the
tourism industry.
19 Oates, Greg. “The New Set of Best Practices for Making Smarter Tourism Boards.” Skift. 17 Aug. 2015
20 “Global Tourism Report.” IBISWorld, 2015.