Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Regulating Accommodation Establishments
In the OIC Member Countries
14
The largest outbound tourism expenditure markets globally include China at $168 billion, the
United States at $147 billion, and Germany at $112 billion in 2015. the OIC outbound tourism
expenditure was estimated at $154.5 billion in 2015, up from $148.4 billion in 2014, and is
expected to grow by 8.8%CAGR to reach $255.8 billion in 2021.
Global Muslim outbound tourism expenditure was estimated at $151 billion in 2015, up from
$144 billion in 2014, and is expected to grow by 8.2% CAGR and reach $243 billion in 2021.
Muslim outbound tourism expenditure from the OIC countries was estimated at $108.8 billion in
2015, up from $104.8 billion in 2014, and is expected to grow by 8.7% CAGR and reach $179.5
billion in 2021. Muslims accounted for over 70% of the total outbound expenditure from the OIC
countries in 2015. The top the OIC markets for Muslim outbound tourism expenditure include
Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Kuwait, with $19.2 billion, $15.1 billion, $11.7
billion, and $9 billion respectively in 2015. The MENA GCC region accounts for the largest
amount of Muslim tourism outbound expenditure, valued at $54.4 billion in 2015. The top 10
markets for Muslim outbound tourism expenditure are presented in the following table.
Table 3: Top Markets for Muslim Outbound Tourism Expenditure (2015)
Country Muslim Outbound Expenditure
(in USD billions)
Saudi Arabia 19.2
United Arab Emirates 15.1
Qatar 11.7
Kuwait 9.0
Indonesia 9.1
Iran 7.2
Malaysia 6.7
Russia 6.6
Turkey 5.3
Nigeria 4.8
Source: DinarStandard Analysis and Business Monitor International Statistics
Muslim-friendly accommodation establishments are defined as accommodation
establishments that address some of the needs of Muslim travelers. Muslim-friendly
accommodation establishments could be further segmented into those with focused offerings
targeting Muslims and addressing the full range of Muslim lifestyle needs, and those with
mixed offerings attempting to accommodate Muslims, however, their core consumers are
non-Muslims and as such they do not address the needs of Muslim guests to the same extent
as Muslim-friendly accommodations with focused offerings. There is currently no published
estimate for the total number of Muslim-friendly accommodation establishments globally.
The following diagram outlines the segmentation Muslim-friendly accommodation
establishments by type of offering whether focused or mixed and by type of accommodation.
1.2 Muslim-Friendly Tourism Accommodation Sector