Malaysia, ranked first Halal tourism

Malaysia is the world’s friendliest destination for Muslim travelers, according to a survey released Tuesday.

Malaysia was followed by the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia and Saudi Arabia in this year’s rankings for “halal” friendly holiday destinations released by Singapore-based Muslim travel specialist Crescent rating.

The survey evaluates countries in terms of their attentiveness to the needs of Muslim travelers, including the presence and accessibility of halal restaurants with meat slaughtered to Islamic standards, and the provision of prayer rooms at airports, shopping malls and hotels.

“An increasing number of destinations are now keen on tapping into this segment and adapting their services to take into account the unique faith-based needs of Muslim travelers,” said Crescent rating chief executive Fazal  Bahardeen.

For largely Muslim Malaysia, Bahardeen said the country’s Islamic Tourism Center has “continued to educate the industry on how to cater to the Muslim travelers”.   

Bahardeen said the Muslim travel market was estimated to be worth $140 billion last year, accounting for almost 13 percent of the global total. It is expected to rise to $200 billion by 2020, he added.

The top ten in order were: Malaysia, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Morocco, Jordan, Qatar and Tunisia.