On 16 October 2026, the official results of the fifth edition of the Indonesia Muslim Travel Index (IMTI) 2026 were unveiled at the Indonesia Sharia Economic Festival (ISEF), held at the Jakarta International Convention Center (JICC).
A collaborative publication between the Ministry of Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia, Bank Indonesia (BI), CrescentRating, and the Enhaii Halal Tourism Center (EHTC) – NHI Bandung Tourism Polytechnic, this landmark report provides the assessment of provincial readiness to serve Muslim visitors across the archipelago.
The launch follows Indonesia’s great performance in the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2026, where the country rose to joint 2nd place worldwide with an all-time high score of 79. IMTI 2026 bridges this international leadership with on-the-ground execution across Indonesia's provinces, establishing a data-driven foundation to capture the global USD 310 billion faith-conscious visitor economy.
The Indonesia Muslim Friendly Tourism Summit at ISEF
The Indonesia Sharia Economic Festival (ISEF) serves as the nation’s premier annual platform for Islamic economics and finance, convening domestic and international policymakers, financial regulators, industry leaders, and diplomatic missions. Spanning the entire breadth of the Halal value chain, the multi-day festival provides an integrated forum for Islamic finance, modest fashion, Halal healthcare, and faith-compatible tourism.
The release of IMTI 2026 took center stage during the Indonesia Muslim Friendly Tourism Summit (Muslim-Friendly Tourism Forum). Delivered before an audience of provincial governors, regional tourism office (Dispar) heads, hospitality conglomerates, and academic researchers, the session featured a keynote presentation by Fazal Bahardeen, Founder & CEO of CrescentRating and HalalTrip.
In his address, Bahardeen highlighted the structural trends reshaping international traveler behavior:
Capitalizing on Sovereign Demand: Converting Indonesia’s sovereign demographic base (250 million Muslims) and dominant regional presence into bookable tourism experiences.
Bridging Regional Inbound Corridors: Leveraging the fact that nearly 75% of Muslim inbound arrivals to Indonesia originate within ASEAN (led by Malaysia with 1.44 million travelers) to build packaged cross-provincial cultural corridors.
The Imperative of AI Discoverability: Stressing that physical infrastructure alone is no longer sufficient; destinations must structure faith-friendly amenities into machine-readable data that AI travel engines and virtual concierges can verify and recommend in real time.
The Release of IMTI 2026
The 2026 edition of the index expanded its analytical depth to 62 datasets (up from 60 in 2025 and 37 in 2018), assessing 15 key provinces using CrescentRating’s localized ACES framework (Access, Communication, Environment, Services), evaluating factors from air connectivity and public transit it Access pillar to the availability of Halal restaurants and airport facilities in Services pillar.
The data revealed nationwide momentum, with average scores improving by 4.8% across repeating destinations and the Services dimension registering the most widespread gains (averaging a 7% increase).
Overall Provincial Leaderboard Highlights
Jawa Barat (Rank 1): Successfully defended the #1 overall national ranking for the second consecutive year. West Java’s performance was a result of its strong scores in Services and Communication, propelled by the Smiling West Java Muslim Friendly Tourism (SWJ-MFT) initiative.
Jawa Tengah (Rank 2): Climbed three places from fifth to second nationwide (+6.3 points), achieving the country’s top score in the Services pillar through the systematic expansion of certified culinary clusters and religious heritage promotion under the 136 Program Jateng.
Nusa Tenggara Barat (Rank 3): Sustained its unbroken top-tier ranking since 2018, sweeping the #1 national position in both the Communication pillar and the Environment pillar.
DKI Jakarta (Rank 9): Maintained its five-year leadership in the Access pillar, driven by world-class urban mobility and comprehensive flight networks.
Kalimantan Selatan (Rank 11): Recorded the highest score increase in this year's index (+8.1 points), demonstrating rapid acceleration in destination readiness.
Strategic Themes Surfaced in the 2026 Edition
Tourism 5.0 and AI Integration: Tracking provincial adaptation to smart tourism, spotlighting tools like the Ministry of Tourism’s AI assistant MaiA and automated biometric entry gates at international airports.
Disaster Management & Resilience: Situating risk forecasting, hospital disaster planning (modeled by NTB), and multilingual tourist emergency alerts as integral components of destination management along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Halal Facility Scaling: Supporting micro-enterprises through BPJPH’s national SEHATI program, providing 1.35 million free Halal certification quotas to develop certified culinary zones (Zona KHAS).
Domestic Connectivity Pressures: Identifying aviation fuel price spikes (+72% at Soekarno-Hatta by April 2026) as an operational hurdle for domestic airfares, urging coordinated public-private strategies to sustain flight connectivity to secondary provinces.
Fostering Indonesia’s Muslim-Friendly Tourism
The launch of the Indonesia Muslim Travel Index 2026 at ISEF establishes that regional tourism development is transitioning from ad-hoc promotional activities to evidence-based, data-driven destination governance. By providing provincial authorities, investors, and industry operators with diagnostic scorecards across the ACES criteria, IMTI 2026 equips destinations with the practical roadmap required to eliminate travel friction, upgrade local infrastructure, and lead the global Muslim-friendly travel landscape.
Download the full IMTI 2026 report here to see more detailed insights.
