Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Regulating Accommodation Establishments
In the OIC Member Countries
13
1 Market Landscape of Muslim-Friendly Tourism
1.1 Global, the OIC and Muslim-Friendly Tourism Market Sizing
Global international tourism receipts have reached $1.26 trillion in 2015, up from $1.25 trillion
in 2014, according to UNWTO’s Tourism Highlights 2016 report statistics. Global international
tourism arrivals have reached 1.19 billion in 2015, which is expected to grow by a 3% compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) to reach 1.8 billion in 2030.
The OIC countries represent 10.3% of global international tourism receipts, which was
estimated at $129.7 billion in 2015, according to UNWTO statistics available between 2013 and
2015.8 As the following table shows, the five largest OIC markets for international tourism
receipts in 2015 were Turkey, Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Saudi
Arabia. the OIC inbound tourism arrivals were also estimated to reach 171 million in 2015,
according to UNWTO statistics aggregated between 2013 and 2015.9
Table 1: Top Markets for OIC International Tourism Receipts (2015)
Country Total International Tourism Receipts
(in USD billions)
Turkey 26.6
Malaysia 17.6
United Arab Emirates 16.0
Indonesia 10.8
Saudi Arabia 10.1
Source: UNWTO Tourism Highlights 2016
Muslim inbound tourism arrivals in the OIC countries were estimated to reach 49.5 million in
2015, according to DinarStandard analysis. Muslims were estimated to account for 29% of the
OIC inbound tourism arrivals in 2015.
Table 2: Muslim Visitor Arrivals in the OIC Countries (2014-2020)
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 CAGR
The OIC Muslim
Visitor Arrivals
45.6 49.5 53.8 58.4 63.4 68.9 74.8 8.59%
Source: DinarStandard Analysis and UNWTO Statistics
Global outbound tourism expenditure was estimated to reach $1.35 trillion in 2015, up from
$1.31 trillion in 2014, and is expected to grow by a 6.6% CAGR to reach $1.98 trillion in 2021,
according to World Bank and national bureau data provided by Business Monitor International.
8 According to the UNWTO statistics available for the period between 2013 and 2015 for inbound tourism expenditure for
41 OIC countries and assuming inbound tourism expenditure for the latest year available is constant between 2013 and
2015. Inbound tourism expenditure for each of the 41 OIC countries was aggregated based on the statistics available
between 2013 and 2015.
9 According to UNWTO statistics available for the latest period between 2013 and 2015 of inbound tourism arrivals for 44
OIC countries and assuming inbound tourism arrivals for the latest year available are constant between 2013 and 2015.
Inbound tourism arrivals for each of the 41 OIC countries were aggregated based on the latest statistic available between
2013 and 2015.