Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Developing and Marketing MFT Products and Services
In the OIC Member Countries
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More than a third (37%) of the sample had an
income less than $20,000 while another quarter
(24%) had an income from $20,000-$39,999, and
the rest had higher incomes as outlined in the table
below.
As for the geographical distribution of survey
respondents, more than a third of the respondents
(36%) live in GCC countries namely Saudi Arabia,
UAE, Qatar and Kuwait. Close to a third of the
respondents (29%) live in European and North
American countries namely Turkey, UK, USA and
Canada, while 18% live in Asian countries namely
Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and India.
Respondents from African countries represent
15% of the sample and are residents of Nigeria,
South Africa and Kenya. 3% of the respondents
were from Egypt (MENA-Other). Two third of the
respondents are residents of OIC countries.
Government Employee 17
Business Owner 16
Homemaker 11
Student 10
Unemployed 4
Income % of
Respondents
Up to $19,999 annual 37
$20,000-39,999 annual 24
$40,000-59,999 annual 15
$60,000-79,999 annual 11
$80,000 and above 14
Region % of
Respondents
MENA- GCC 36
Europe and North
America
29
Asia 18
Africa 15
MENA- Other 3
OIC Status % of Respondents
OIC 66
Non OIC 34
2. Muslim Traveller Journey
The survey responses paint a strong picture of the overall travel experience journey of
Muslim travelers’ beginning from their travel motivation/ purpose, trip planning,
accommodation selection, to activities done, and level of satisfaction. The following diagram
and key findings of the survey summarize Muslim travelers’ journey in terms of travel
purpose, trip planning, accommodation, leisure activities and satisfaction.
Respondents were asked about the countries they traveled to in the past two years, the
countries mentioned included; Saudi Arabia 32%, UAE 22%, India 19%, Malaysia and
Maldives 16% each, US and UK 11% each, Indonesia 10%, Singapore, France and Turkey 8%
each, Pakistan and Thailand 7% each, Egypt 6%, and Australia, Canada, China and Qatar 5%
each. A number of other countries mentioned by respondents (3-4% each) included;
Australia, Bahrain, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, Oman, Philippines, South Korea, Spain and
Switzerland.
Each respondent mentioned at least traveling to two destinations within the last two years (a
minimum of one trip per year); with the average for respondents from all regions getting
close to three trips per year (more than one trip per year) except for respondents from
African countries (average of one trip every two years).