Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services
In the OIC Member Countries
48
 Industry/Trade Events
 In 2015, the Tourism Authority of Thailand organized, in parallel to its annual
travel trade show, the Thailand Travel Mart Plus (TTM +). It was the first
forum for the promotion of the country as a Muslim-friendly Destination.
Representatives of travel agencies and media from a number of countries
were invited to participate in the forum including representatives from Iran,
Egypt, Kuwait, Tunisia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei, Oman, the UAE, Turkey,
and India. As part of the forum activities, business meetings were arranged
between the invited travel agents and Thai tourism operators who are
targeting the Muslim travel market.100
 Croatia will host its first international Halal event, World Halal Day Croatia
(WHD) in November 2016, in Croatia. The event covers Halal tourism, Halal
food and Islamic banking and finance. It is intended to provide a platform for
government bodies and industry professionals including hotel management
executives, travel agencies and representatives from other countries buyers
and trade visitors to exchange business experiences.101
 In Spain, city councils supported a number of Halal conferences including the
1st Halal Tourism Conference in Granada in 2014, the Halal International
Congress in 2015 in Cordoba and the EXPOHALAL 2016 in Madrid.102
 Strategic Partnerships
 Australia has collaborated with a number of partners in Dubai including
airlines and media representatives to promote itself as a Muslim-friendly
destination. Arab media representatives were invited to visit tourist places at
the Gold Coast in an effort to create awareness of Australia as a potential
destination for Muslim tourists.103
 The Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT) is currently working with
CrescentRating on formulating strategies to expand the MFT market segment
through the identification of deficiencies in the facilities and services offered
to Muslim travelers and the development of a marketing campaign targeting
Muslim consumers. The geographic scope of the project covers Manila, Davao,
Cebu and Boracay initially.104
 The Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) launched a marketing partnership
with Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, to
promote travel to Thailand from priority markets including Iran, Kuwait, and
the UAE.105
100 Ibid.
101 “ISFIN supports World Halal Day Croatia.” World Halal Day. 2 Apr. 2016. Web.
102 Please refer to Spain case study for more information.
103 Jamila Abodeeb , Erica Wilson , Brent Moyle , (2015) "Shaping destination image and identity: insights for Arab tourism
at the Gold Coast, Australia", International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 9 Iss: 1, pp.6 – 21
104 ”Philippines to Court Halal Tourism Market.” Oxford Business Group. 11 Mar. 2016. Web.
105 Please refer to Thailand case study for more information.