PETALING JAYA: The nation’s tourism sector must gear up to tap the estimated RM1 trillion Muslim tourist expenditure over the next four years, says Khairul Firdaus Akbar Khan.
“With the Muslim tourist market becoming a strong force in the global tourism and Islamic economy, especially with the Muslim population worldwide reaching two billion last year, the demand for Muslim-friendly products and services is also growing.
“It is therefore timely to consider some key questions about the new tourism landscape,” the Deputy Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister said during the media launch of the upcoming 4th World Islamic Tourism Conference (WITC) yesterday.He described the WITC, to be held on Sept 12 and 13 at the Sunway Resort Hotel, as timely in providing a platform for both local and international tourism players to exchange ideas and views on how to tap the growing market.
He noted that Malaysia is the only destination to pioneer standards and service recognition programmes designed specifically for the market.
Among them, he said, were the Muslim-Friendly Tourism and Hospitality Assurance and Recognition and Muslim-Friendly Tourist Guide programmes.
He said that WITC would also help introduce potential investors to the nation’s expansion plans such as the Umrah Transit Hub initiative.
Islamic tourism, according to Khairul Firdaus, is inclusive and does not aim to prevent conventional tourists from fully experiencing a particular destination.
“It simply provides Muslims with Muslim-Friendly Tourism Hospitality (MFTH) options to make their travel experiences more comfortable and fulfilling.”He added that MFTH practices can be adopted by anyone in the tourism industry, aimed at offering choices that benefit both Muslim and non-Muslim tourists visiting the country.
Meanwhile, Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) director-general Nizran Noordin said that the country receives about 20% of Muslim tourist arrivals annually out of the total number of international tourist arrivals.
“For the past nine consecutive years, we have been in the number one spot in the Mastercard-Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index ranking for Muslim-friendly destinations.
“This is a strong validation of Malaysia as a friendly destination when it comes to attracting Muslim tourists,” he said when met after the event.He noted that since its inception in 2009, ITC has developed several standards and recognition programmes to assist those in the tourism industry here to standardise and better promote their products to Muslim tourists.
