Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services
In the OIC Member Countries
77
4.4 Japan
1. Type/Focus area for case study
Desk case Study/MFT Products and Services
2. Reasoning behind focus area choice
MFT products have been expanding rapidly in Japan in the past few years as Japan intensified
its efforts to attract Muslim travelers from South East Asia in a bid to diversify its source
countries after tensions with Taiwan, South Korea and China affected the inbound tourism
volume. With the relaxation of visa requirements for Thailand and Malaysia in 2013, local
governments in Japan have provided support to local businesses for the development of
Muslim friendly products. Additionally, the anticipation of the influx of foreign visitors by the
time Tokyo holds the Olympic Games in 2020, which will surely include a sizeable Muslim
segment, has been one of the factors that led to Japanese government interest in supporting
local businesses that want to cater to Muslim travelers. 194
3. Background
Table 6: Japan – Tourism Figures
Source: UNWTO; DinarStandard synthesis and analysis; Government Statistics.
Japan’s Muslim tourist arrivals have been estimated to grow by 6.9 percent CAGR from 350k
arrivals in 2015 to 490k arrivals in 2020. The CAGR mirrors total inbound tourist arrivals and
total inbound expenditure, which is estimated to grow from 14.3 million arrivals spending
$20.2 billion in 2015 to 20 million arrivals spending $28 billion in 2020.
According to the statistics compiled by the Japan National Tourism Organization, by the end
of October 2015 Malaysian inbound tourist numbers visiting Japan increased by 18.2 percent
over last year, while the number of Indonesians increased by a substantial 30.8 percent.
Overall, it was estimated that 270,000 Malaysian and slightly less than 200,000 Indonesians
had visited Japan in 2015. Naturally, smaller numbers of Muslim tourists are visiting from
other nations as well.
194 Tang, See Kit. "How Japan is Courting Muslim Tourists." CNBC. 17 Aug. 2014. Web. 1 Mar. 2016.
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 CAGR
Total Inbound Tourist
Arrivals (Mil)
13.40 14.32 15.31 16.37 17.50 18.71 20.00 6.90%
Total Inbound
Expenditure ($ Bil)
18.90 20.20 21.60 23.09 24.68 26.38 28.21 6.90%
Total Outbound
Expenditure ($ Bil)
31.42 30.21 30.87 31.55 32.09 32.83 33.65 1.38%
Muslim Tourist
Arrivals (Mil)
0.33 0.35 0.37 0.40 0.43 0.46 0.49 6.90%