PUTRAJAYA,
MALAYSIA, 14 JULY 2021: Malaysia
has once again topped the list of best Muslim-friendly holiday destinations for
Muslim travellers, according to the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim
Travel Index (GMTI) 2021, launched during the inaugural Halal in Travel Global
Summit 2021.
YB Dato’
Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri, Minister of Tourism, Arts & Culture Malaysia,
expressed her appreciation and gratitude to all industry players for their
continued efforts in making Malaysia the top destination of choice in
Muslim-friendly travel. She said in her keynote address at the summit:
“Alhamdulillah, all praises to Allah. It gives me great pleasure to learn that
Malaysia is placed atop the GMTI for 2021, a position it has defended ever
since the GMTI was first released back in 2015. It is the collective effort of
all industry players that we have achieved this recognition.”
The GMTI
2021 report stated that although the pandemic had ravaged the tourism sector,
some destinations were ready to be activated in anticipation of borders
reopening. These destinations had a strong foundation in Muslim-friendly
facilities and services, and had continued their stakeholder awareness,
capacity building, and destination marketing to the Muslim outbound markets
even during the pandemic.
It stated
that Malaysia remained the top-ranked destination in the GMTI 2021 as it had
been since the launch of the Index in 2015.
Dato’ Sri
Hajah Nancy acknowledged that this achievement springs from the fruits of
Malaysia’s continued and steadfast commitment towards developing the
Muslim-friendly travel, a model that is becoming more and more significant in
the global market.
“Malaysia
is a melting pot of different races, cultures and demographics, all living
together harmoniously under one roof. This attribute makes Malaysia a standout
offering of unique Asian experience.”
“Halal in travel is an essential
for Muslim travellers and is part and parcel of Islamic Tourism. Malaysia,
being a Muslim majority nation, has many Halal offerings whilst featuring many
tourism packages that are compliant with Islamic principles – these are the
foundation of a successful Islamic Tourism model destination,” she opined.
She took
the opportunity to call upon tourism industry players to ready themselves for
tourism beyond COVID-19. “Moving forward, it’s important that we leverage on
this achievement to further improve ourselves and explore more opportunities to
prepare Malaysia for the reopening of travel and the recovery of Muslim
tourists to our destination,” she said.
She further
elaborated that her ministry, via its agency Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) would
continue striving towards developing better understanding of the post-COVID-19
requirements of the Muslim tourist market, and enhance the facilities,
products, and services that are needed.
It is here
that ITC’s key roles in Islamic Tourism research and training are important.
Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy noted: “In the field of research, ITC has shared
knowledge through its symposiums, and encouraged innovative ideas and expanded
the potential of the Muslim-friendly Tourism and Hospitality space through a
focus on research. I urge industry players to learn and apply this knowledge to
serve the needs of the market better.”
The
Minister also noted ITC’s contribution as “a crucial bridge connecting
Malaysia’s culture, arts, heritage, and other commercial attractions with the
Islamic Tourism and Muslim-Friendly Tourism and Hospitality concept.” The
development of the Muslim-Friendly Tour Guide course for licensed tour guides
and its advocacy for Malaysia’s cuisines and heritage attractions as a major
draw to attract Muslim tourists are some of the efforts made by ITC to improve
the product and service offerings of Malaysia to Muslim tourists.
The
Minister also emphasised the importance of standards and certification as a
means to promote trust and branding. “Initiatives such as ITC’s Muslim-friendly
Accommodation Recognition (MFAR) gives assurance to Muslim hotel guests. This
effort enables Muslim tourists to easily identify accommodations that cater to
their needs such as availability of Halal food and provision of prayer
facilities. It also serves as a marketing and branding tool for the hotels to
give assurance to their Muslim clientele,” she said.
Among its
global network, ITC is considered a leading authority on Muslim-friendy
tourism, being widely recognised by member states of the Organisation of
Islamic Corporation (OIC). This is evident in ITC’s collaborations with OIC via
the latter’s key agencies, such as the Statistical, Economic and Social Research
and Training Centre for Islamic Countries (SESRIC) and the Standing Committee
Economic and Commercial Cooperation (COMCEC) of the OIC, where ITC has
delivered training and consultancy sessions on MFTH for its fellow OIC member
states.
ITC is also
widely recognised abroad for its contribution towards establishing guidelines
and standards for Muslim-Friendly tourism services, the Minister said.
“In this
regard, ITC is the project coordinator for the Indonesia–Malaysia–Thailand
Growth Triangle (IMT-GT) Tourism Working Group for Muslim-friendly Tourism
Development and has been nominated to be the lead coordinator for the
development of Halal Spa at the OIC-SMIIC (Standards and Metrology Institute
for Islamic Countries) level.”
With
Malaysia situated in the ASEAN region, she also expressed hope the region would
continue and sustain itself as a Muslim-friendly one. “Muslim travellers
exhibit two main attributes, an inclination to spend more and higher tendency
for longer stays. They want a worry-free experience where their religious needs
are met whilst enjoying the pleasures of destinations they travel to. Thus, all
of us, in ASEAN, have so much to gain from the many potentials that the Islamic
Tourism and Muslim-Friendly Tourism and Hospitality segments have to offer,”
she said.
-Islamic Tourism Centre.
