Travel/Tourism

With the theme “Unlocking Opportunity”, the ninth edition of the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report, focuses on post COVID-19 recovery as the report continues to cover the sectors of Islamic finance, halal food and beverages, halal cosmetics, halal pharmaceuticals, Muslim-friendly travel, modest fashion, and Islamic-themed media and recreation. The report, which is produced by DinarStandard and is supported by the Department of Economy and Tourism (DET) in Dubai addresses developments as well as challenges and opportunities for those sectors.

In this opinion piece published on Salaam Gateway, I reflect on the growth of Muslim-friendly tourism over the past decade.

Travel and Tourism was hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is also one of the sectors for which transformation is more likely once the crisis is over. In our brief on the signals of a post COVID-19 ‘new normal’ we identified 13 signals of trends that have started developing and will continue beyond the crisis. These signals are based on our analysis of travel data, consumer trends and industry actions.

The eight edition of the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report, continues to cover the following sectors: Islamic finance, halal food and beverages, halal cosmetics, halal pharmaceuticals, Muslim-friendly travel, modest fashion, and Islamic-themed media and recreation. The report, which is produced by DinarStandard and is supported by Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre (DIEDC) addresses developments as well as challenges and opportunities for those sectors pre and post-COVID-19.

Commissioned by COMCEC (The Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation), the...

In a report on sustainable destination management strategies for OIC countries, which DinarStandard developed for The Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC), we provided policy recommendations for the OIC Member States, which we presented at the 13th Meeting of the COMCEC Tourism Working Group, attended by Ministry of Tourism representatives from the OIC Member States.

Muslims are a rapidly growing customer segment, reaching 5.8million consumers in 2015 and commanded $107 billion in annual disposable income in 2015. The ecosystem of products and services addressing Muslim faith-based needs has evolved substantially, with many new players seeking to emulate the remarkable success stories of Saffron Road and the Halal Guys.