Athul LalDubai: Driven by millennial travellers and the top outbound market, Saudi Arabia, which is expected to grow by 17 per cent over the next three years to reach $27.9 billion, Muslim travellers would spend $157 billion by 2020, revealed data released during the Global Halal Tourism Summit 2018 held as part of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) Dubai 2018.
While the US and EU take 53 per cent of inbound Muslim market share worth $64.8 billion, the biggest outbound Muslim market is Saudi Arabia at a net worth of $23.3 billion.
Faeez Fadhlillah, Founder & CEO, Salam Standard and Tripfez, said, “The biggest countries and some of the fastest growing economies in the world are in Asia and the Middle East. These regions typically have large Muslim population, which is predominantly young, with a prosperous middle class.
In addition, second and third generation Muslim communities in developed economies such as Europe and North America now have far more purchasing power and their combined growth generates increased demand for faith-based travel and tourism.”
Omar Ahmed, founder and CEO, Sociable Earth, revealed some of the key results from a recent survey, in which 35,000 Muslim travellers participated. According to the Sociable Earth survey, one of the key findings was that respondents said non-Muslim countries should increase their variety of halal food in hotels (61.3 per cent), list nearby mosques (61.1 per cent) and halal restaurants (55.2 per cent) and offer private pool villas (14 per cent) to attract more Muslim guests.
“Certainly, the halal travel market has graduated from its niche status to become an industry-shaping force, in its own right. It has gone mainstream. The campaign that we managed for Geneva Tourism can now be used as a benchmark. Together we gained an additional 70,000 unique visitors to their website,” added Ahmed.
“An image-driven campaign is key,” said Tamara Tawil, Market Manager, Geneva Tourism. “As Muslim travellers prefer new experiences, destinations should illustrate that. They certainly don’t want to see stereotypical images that remind them of home. It’s a fine line,” she said.
“Though niche, we are also focusing our efforts on Muslim solo travel and also hijab-free holidays. Our data shows huge potential for women travelling in groups to enjoy hijab-free holidays and experiences, a trend that we feel will become increasingly popular,” said Ahmed.
Dubai Tourism bagged the ‘Best Stand for Doing Business’ at the ATM Best Stand Awards. Launched in 2015, the Best Stand Awards was created to recognise the design creativity and business-friendly appeal of exhibiting companies’ physical presence at ATM. Other winners are Lebanon (Best Stand Design), Saudi Arabia (Best Stand Personnel), Turkey (Best Stand Feature), Travelport (Best Stand within the Travel Tech Show).
INDIA TOURISM PROMOTES WELLNESS
India Tourism showcased the immense tourism potential of the country at ATM 2018 under the theme ‘Adventure, Yoga & Wellness Tourism’. More than 20 participants from India, including Kerala Tourism and Air India, were part of the India Pavilion. Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra had set up individual pavilions at the show. Navdeep Singh Suri, Ambassador of India to the UAE, formally inaugurated the Incredible India Pavilion.
Manas Ranjan Pattanaik, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, who led the India Tourism delegation at ATM 2018, said India Tourism is witnessing an upswing with the growth of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in India in the recent years. “In 2017, India received 10.18 million FTAs with a growth rate of 15.6 per cent. The Gulf and the Middle East region are an important market for India.”
There has been a consistent and positive growth of FTAs from the Gulf region to India over the last three years with the year 2017 having registered an overall growth of around 10 per cent compared to the previous year.
“The aim is to maintain the same pace of growth in international tourist arrivals over the next three years through a multi-pronged approach, including proactive marketing strategies in partnership with our tourism stakeholders. Some of the countries, particularly the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Sultanate of Oman, Egypt, Turkey and Sudan have registered a significant growth and are becoming major tourism generating markets for India from this region. India has emerged as a prime destination for Medical/Wellness Travel in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries,” he said.
To promote adventure tourism to India and to create awareness about the varied adventure options available, the Ministry of Tourism has decided to celebrate 2018 as ‘The Year of Adventure Tourism’.
“One of the priorities of the Government of India is the safety and security of both domestic as well as international tourists. Several measures have been taken in this regard. The launch of a 24×7 toll free tourist helpline in 12 International languages, including German, is a big step in this direction. The helpline is available on the existing toll free number 1800111363 or on a short code 1363 for dialling in India,” he informed.
The e-Tourist Visa facility, available under three sub-categories namely ‘e-Tourist Visa’, ‘e-Business Visa’ and ‘e-Medical Visa’ and extended to 163 countries including Jordan, Oman, Palestine and the UAE , has led to making travel hassle-free to India. A new Incredible India website is being developed with a view to provide an enhanced experience to visitors.
