Muslim Friendly Tourism:

Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services

In the OIC Member Countries

Some industry associations supporting MFT are the Shariah Hotel and Restaurant Association

(AHSIN), the Islamic Economic Society (MES), and the Islamic Economic Society and the Halal

Food, Hotel and Islamic Tourism. One of the initiatives of AHSIN, which was founded by

individuals, financial institutions, educational institutions, research institutions and business

entities interested in developing different sectors of the Islamic economy and has offices

across 23 provinces in Indonesia was organizing a Focus Group Discussion on Halal tourism

in May, 2015 in order to explore universal branding for its MFT tourism product.

Pricing

MFT products are priced at either the same or lower than mainstream travel. For example,

Sofyan Hotels’ strategy is to have competitive prices and provide the best value for money.

The challenge is there are so many hotels in Indonesia and most of them sell with a big

discount, even the five-star hotels, because in the hotel business you cannot put empty rooms

in the fridge. The problem is that there is an over-supply which results in price wars.

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Challenges



There are some concerns in the tourism industry that promoting Indonesia as a

Muslim-friendly destination will alienate mainstream travelers. When the Sharia

Economic Society (MES) chairman, Muliaman D. Hadad announced that it is worth

exploring developing Shariah tourism in Bali as a business opportunity, he was met

with strong opposition from local leaders and influential figures.

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

Even though the government subsidizes the Halal certification for hotels and for

restaurants, the industry is reluctant to do that, because they feel they are already

Halal and there is no need for the certification.



Government initiatives to promote Indonesia as a Muslim-friendly destination are still

in their infancy, and there are still no strong integrated promotional campaigns

promoting Indonesia as a Muslim-friendly destination.

Lessons Learned



Bi-lateral collaboration in strengthening MFT products as well as in offering

combined packages that are jointly promoted is important and can be replicated by

other OIC member countries.



Influencer campaigns and competitions that involve social media and blogging are a

successful way to promote a destination to targeted countries. The campaign that the

Ministry ran with HalalTrip highlighted the adventure of bloggers from Malaysia and

Singapore.



Fam trips and trade shows continue to be important in connecting buyers and sellers

and establishing relationships.

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From interview with Riyanto Sofyan, Chairman of PT Sofyan Hotels, March 2016

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Retail News. “Bali governor opposes Shariah tourism idea.” Web. 25 Nov. 2015