Halal travel is a market that offers huge prospects for the global medical tourism industry.
Halal travel is a market that offers huge prospects for the global medical tourism industry. Muslim majority tourism is one of the fastest growing areas of global tourism and excluding Hajj and Umrah, is set to surpass $238 billion by 2019.
In Germany luxury hotels such as Breidenbacher Hof in Düsseldorf, have adapted to their audience’s demands. Arrows on the ceiling point to Mecca, and next to the bible room guests can find the Quran. Hotel buffets feature customary Muslim dishes.
This special service is offered mainly in European cities such as Munich, Düsseldorf, Zurich and London, which are visited by Muslim tourists particularly in the summer. Faraway destinations such as Thailand are also adapting to this customer group. One important service is to be able to offer a swimming pool for women only.
The Crescent Rating rankings, published annually, show how individual countries have adapted. This forecasts that by 2020 the halal tourism industry will achieve an annual turnover of 200 billion dollars and cater for 168 million tourists.
The latest rankings are divided into Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Topping the first category are Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia and Turkey. In the non-Muslim category, the leaders are Singapore and Thailand. In Europe, the UK has adapted best to its visitors’ demands. South Africa, Hong Kong and Japan are also ahead in the rankings. The survey lists Germany in eleventh place.
In addition to hotels and destinations tour operators have also recognised the potential of Halal tourism. Germany is home to around four to five million Muslims who often have special requests at their hotels when they travel abroad.
There are no figures for health and wellness tourism for Muslims but several countries have begun to adapt offers to target this group.
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