The number of Muslim travellers features a steady growth, so hoteliers are likely to pay close attention to this segment of market. This information is stated in the latest report named Global Muslim Lifestyle Travel Market: Landscape & Consumer Needs. In 2011 the global Muslim travel market was worth US$126.1 billion. This figure is expected to grow and add as much as 4.8% by 2020 and estimate US$192 billion. Therefore, the speed of growth of Muslin market exceeds the average global growth of 3.8%.
The authors of this study are DinarStandard, a New York headquartered firm specializing in marketing research, and Crescentrating, a company that is based in Singapore and that specializes in Halal friendly travel services. Both companies agree that there is a lot of potential in this market with young demography and unique requirements to the services provided. This means that is order to attract the growing audience of Muslim travellers, hotels must provide additional services.
The companies have conducted a study among Muslim travellers, asking them about the most important factors of leisure travelling. 67% of respondents named Halal food as the most significant factor. “Overall price” and “Muslim-friendly experience” occupied the second and the third place respectively with 53% and 49%. MENA countries are the biggest source market for Muslim travellers (almost 60%). The majority of tourists come from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Kuwait, Indonesia and the UAE.
The most popular destinations for Muslim tourists are Malaysia, the UAE and Turkey. Such countries as Thailand, Singapore, China, Russia, Italy and France also attract a significant number of Muslim tourists.