Global travel industry gears up for Muslim tourist boom

Malaysia, the number-one destination according to the findings, attracts Muslim visitors even during the ongoing fasting month of Ramadan. Mohammed Ali Alali, 23, a petroleum engineering student from Dammam, Saudi Arabia, went there on honeymoon with his bride, a 20-year-old medicine student.

"It's not that far from Saudi Arabia and it's less expensive to travel here rather than Europe. It's also an Islamic country so that helps in many ways, like to find a mosque and Arabic food," he said after breaking fast at an Arabic restaurant in the capital Kuala Lumpur.

The availability of halal food tops the list of Muslim travellers' requirements, according to the survey. Destinations such as Thailand and Australia, especially the Gold Coast, are already taking into account these travellers' needs in their services and facilities, Fazal told AFP.

That includes prayer rooms at airports and hotels, halal restaurants and even spas adapted to religious requirements. "Why not try Gold Coast for a cooler Ramadhan this year?" says the tourism website of Australia's Queensland state. "With a long history of welcoming Middle Eastern visitors and a large resident community, facilities for Muslims in Gold Coast, Australia keep getting better every year."

The Economist Intelligence Unit said in a March report that meeting the needs of the world's 1.8 billion Muslims is fuelling business opportunities in numerous sectors. "From food and Islamic finance, the industry is spreading its wings into pharmaceuticals, fashion and tourism, among many other areas," it said, noting more than half of the world's Muslim population is aged 24 or younger, many of them well-educated.

Thailand is hungrily eyeing the Muslim travel boom. Its tourism authority which has an office in Dubai is promoting halal spas for Muslim tourists, who require strict privacy for male and female clients. It also organised a month-long festival of Thai cuisine in the United Arab Emirates from June 8 to July 7.

Crescentrating's study ranked Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport the most Islam-friendly airport in a non-Muslim country. And it found that tourists from the Gulf Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the sector's biggest spenders.

Gulf countries accounted for 37 per cent of Muslim tourist spending in 2011 even though they represent a mere three percent of the global Muslim population.

AFP