Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services
In the OIC Member Countries
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audience needs and motivations for ‘Halal’ considerations and presents significant cross-
marketing and product development opportunities as well (e.g. sharia-compliant travel
saving programs for Muslim travelers.)
3.2 MFT Products and Services in OIC Member Countries
1. General Outlook
The OIC countries have a comparative advantage due to their knowledge of Islam that implies
an understanding of Muslim consumers’ needs as they pertain to conforming to their faith
requirements. While, OIC countries offer a variety of MFT products and services, the
development of those products varies greatly from one country to another. Both the State of
Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) and the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) reports have been
reviewing the MFT market and providing tools to measure the development of this sector
globally.
The GMTI score is based on scores in three main areas; the first being family friendliness and
safety of the destination, the second being the availability of Muslim friendly services and
facilities including prayer areas, airport services and facilities, dining and accommodation
options, and the third being Muslim travel market awareness of the destination and
destination marketing. The first two areas are given a weight of 40% each while the third is
given a weight of 20% in establishing the overall GMTI score.119
The SGIE’s Halal Travel Indicator (HTI) evaluates countries on relative strengths of the
ecosystem they have for the development of the MFT sector. The indicator equally weights
four categories which include the supply drivers relative to country size (Financial), the
degree of Halal-friendliness of the country’s ecosystem (Governance), the level of awareness
of a country’s MFT sector based on the news articles and events, and the travel sector’s
contribution to employment in the country (Social).120 The chart below illustrates OIC
countries the SGIE’s Travel Indicator 2015/2016 scores as well its four raw components.
119 “The Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2016.” CrescentRating, 2016.
120 “The State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2015/16” DinarStandard and Thomson Reuters, 2015.