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National Tourism Organisations' Online Muslim Travel Resources 2022

Data updated: October 2022

This is the third edition of the report, How Online Ready are NTOs for Muslim Travellers in 2022?, and a first-time research collaboration between the Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC), an entity under the Malaysian Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture tasked to develop the Islamic tourism segment, and Pear Anderson.

The report was launched at the 3rd World Islamic Tourism Conference (WITC), 17-19 October 2022, World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

The report examines the online resources that National Tourism Organisations (NTOs) from 2019’s top 50 most visited non-Muslim destinations worldwide have created to support Muslim friendly travel, including information about Muslim friendly food, prayer spaces and hotels. These are scored and ranked according to our points framework. Through analysing the top 50, the overall importance on which NTOs are placing Muslim friendly travel can be gauged.

In 2022, Korea and Taiwan placed joint first, with Japan and Hong Kong jointly placing in second place, and Singapore in third place.

Out of the 50 destinations studied, 54% of them now have some level of Muslim friendly travel information, compared to just 36% in 2019’s inaugural report, and up from 46% in 2020, a signal of the continued importance destinations are placing on Muslim travellers to boost tourism recovery.

Countries which improved their scores in 2022 did so by:

  • Adding more information, e.g. more Muslim friendly restaurants or places to pray
  • Increasing the number of online resources, e.g. adding Muslim friendly information into their travel mobile apps
  • Making Muslim friendly travel content easier to find
  • Optimising their rankings for search engines
How Online Ready Are NTOs for Muslim Travellers in 2022?
Download this report
How Online Ready Are NTOs for Muslim Travellers in 2022?
Islamic Tourism Centre logo 3rd World Islamic Tourism Conference logo
What's in the report
1. 2022 NTO Rankings
  • Top 10 scoring NTOs
  • Analysis of top NTOs
  • Top 10 most visited countries' scores
2. Industry Best Practices
  • What the Top 10 are doing right
  • Opportunites for NTOs to improve their reach
  • Practical first steps for NTOs new to Muslim-friendly travel
3. Case Studies
  • Taiwan Tourism Bureau
  • Singapore Tourism Board
62%
of the Top 10 NTOs are from APAC (2020: 60%)
40%
of the top ten most visited countries now have online Muslim friendly resources (2020: 50%)
54%
of the countries examined had resources for Muslim travellers (2020: 46%)
Dato Dr. Mohmed Razip Haji Hasan
Foreward By
Dato' Dr. Mohmed Razip Haji Hasan
Director-General, Islamic Tourism Centre — Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia
Mr Abe Chou
Interview With
Mr Abe Chou
Taiwan Tourism Bureau, Director, Kuala Lumpur Office
Mr John Conceicao
Interview With
Mr John Conceicao
Singapore Tourism Board, Executive Director, Southeast Asia
Download Report »

NTO Scores for Muslim Travel Resources

Data Updated: October 2022. Only top 50 most visited non-Muslim majority countries included.[UNWTO 2019]
How scores are calculated (max 28 points)
Prayer facilities (max 3 points)
  1. List mosques in capital city or at least one major mosque in the country
  2. List mosques and prayer rooms in capital city
  3. List mosques and prayer rooms in major tourist cities
Dietary requirements (max 4 points)
  1. List Muslim friendly restaurants in capital city
  2. List Muslim friendly restaurants in capital city with categories (e.g. certified halal, self-declared, pork-free)
  3. List Muslim friendly restaurants in major tourist cities
  4. List Muslim friendly restaurants in major tourist cities with categories (e.g. certified halal, self-declared, pork-free)
Accommodation (max 3 points)
  1. List a few Muslim friendly hotels
  2. Large list of Muslim friendly hotels in capital city
  3. List of Muslim friendly hotels in major tourist cities
Customer centricity, what information formats are available (one point each, max 7 points)
  1. Section of main website
  2. Dedicated website or mini-site
  3. Downloadable eGuide
  4. Dedicated mobile app
  5. Section/pages of NTO mobile app
  6. Videos targeted to Muslim friendly activities/facilities
  7. Halal sub-category on official NTO restaurant listings
Ease of information discovery possible classifications (max 5 points)
  1. Found via website search box or SEO only
  2. Separate, hidden subsection of localised NTO website
  3. Separate, hidden subsection of main NTO website
  4. Easily found on main menu of localised NTO website
  5. Easily found on main menu of main NTO website
SEO visibility (max 6 points) What page do they appear on a Google Search for “Muslim Friendly [destination]”
  1. Third page or lower
  2. Second page
  3. Fourth result or under on first page
  4. Third result on first page
  5. Second result on first page
  6. First result on first page
Download the full 34-page report or find more Muslim Travel resources.
The content is a general description of informative nature only and is accurate at time of publication. Pear Anderson assumes no responsibility for completeness, errors or omissions in the information and makes no warranty as to the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information. This collection of content is created by Pear Anderson and various sources credited on the page.