Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services
In the OIC Member Countries
88
With Social Media there are no boundaries thus enabling a message to travel faster and to a
more diverse range of audiences compared to traditional media 225. Moreover, communication
with customers can be done directly on a one to one basis, rather than through middlemen.
PNB Perdana on the Park has a social media presence on both Facebook and Twitter. Both
platforms have been linked whereby:
- Room promotions are marketed
- Tourist attraction in Malaysia are highlighted
- Early Ramadhan promotions are marketed
ITC makes use of their social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to highlight
upcoming events, announcements and highlighting Malaysia as a tourist destination.
Given the relative affordability of Social Media marketing, it enables MFT players with budget
constraints to market their products as well. The Islamic Arts Museum Malaysia (IAMM)
which is a non-profit organization under the Albukhary foundation turned heavily towards
Social Media for their marketing efforts because being a non-profit they do not necessarily
have the funds to cater for other expensive alternatives. IAMM have a presence on Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram and TripAdvisor. On the last they have been reviewed by more than 2000
reviewers and are numbered second in the 221 things to do in Kuala Lumpur.
IAMM’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages engage users by making use of User
Generated Content (UGC) through shares, retweets and reposts. All three accounts are linked.
KPJ Healthcare, aside from having their Social Media pages in Malaysia, also have dedicated
Social Media pages for their respective target markets e.g. their MENA Facebook page is called
KPJ Malaysian Healthcare Dubai.
Website
ITC recently revamped their website to be more user friendly and carry more information on
Malaysia as a MFT destination. It links to local websites that cater to the MFT market.
Through IAMM’s website, guests are able to access and subscribe to their newsletter that is
posted every three months. The newsletter carries among other information their calendar of
events, new acquisitions to the museum, selections from the museum shop, educational
activities and other news and events relating to the museum.
Mobile Apps
ITC encourages the formation of the production of mobile apps for items such as Halal food,
Mosque tourism, prayer times, etc.
One such mobile app is the Penang Historical Mosques App, which provides a brief history on
over 40 mosques in Penang.
225 Interview with Zaid Jamaluddin, March 2016.