How to attract Muslim tourists

Source: Tourism Update, 03/12/2015

South Africa, and Cape Town in particular, is well placed to attract
the lucrative Muslim tourism market by providing Muslim-friendly beach
resorts, family-friendly holidays and soft adventures, says Nahla
Mesbah, Senior Associate at New York-based Dinar Standard strategic
advisory firm.


Hosted by Wesgro, Mesbah presented market insights of her company`s
State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2015/16 in Cape Town this
week. She said there was a shortage of Muslim-friendly beach resorts
worldwide, with Turkey being the only country answering the need, with
about 70 halaal resorts.


The challenge for South Africa, she said, was how to market to and
accommodate Muslims without alienating non-Muslims. She advised
highlighting "family-friendly" or "Arabian hospitality" instead of
"Muslim-friendly" or "halaal-friendly" to avoid alienating Western
markets. She also suggested dedicated beaches, pools and spas, as
"burkas next to bikinis is a problem". Another challenge was
investors` lack of appetite for alcohol-free hotels, she said.


Mesbah advised targeted campaigns, using tour operators in target
markets. She cited the success of Australia`s `Muslim-friendly Holiday
Ideas`; Marriott`s specialised service and staff training to cater for
Muslim customers; and the specialised marketing by UK tour operator,
Serendipity. All three companies had researched their target markets
well and provided the best possible solutions to them. Some of the
innovations they offered included free food lounges, prayer mats and
extended shopping hours during Ramadan; Muslim travel guides;
segregated hotel lounges for men and women; segregated weddings;
guides to halaal restaurants and mosques; and an online halaal holiday
destination finder.


According to the Dinar Standard report, the global Muslim market spent
US$142bn (R2 040bn) on travel in 2014, which is expected to increase
to US$233bn (R3 348bn), by 2020. The Islamic economy is growing at
nearly double the global rate. The size of the global Muslim market
ranks third after China and the USA. The biggest Muslim tourism
spenders are Saudi Arabia (US$17.8bn or R255bn); the UAE (US$12.6bn or
R232bn); Kuwait (US$9.7bn or R139bn) and Qatar (US$9.5bn or
R136bn).


Travellers from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) – the UAE, Bahrain,
Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait – represent only 3% of the global
Muslim population, but represented 37% of global Muslim travel spend
in 2014. They are high-yield as they stay in luxury accommodation,
spend high on restaurants and luxury goods and stay three to four
weeks in a destination. Muslims from south-east Asia are generally
middle-class and looking for three-star accommodation instead.


Countries with the best-developed infrastructure for Muslim tourists
are, in order: Malaysia, the UAE, Singapore, Thailand, Jordan, the
Maldives, Turkey, Bahrain and Qatar. Rankings are based on their
number of Muslim tourists, friendliness towards Muslims, facilities
for Muslims and how much their economy depends on Muslim travel.