The Muslim population is the fastest growing population in the world and also rising is their education levels, purchasing power and standard of living. This is causing changes in their lifestyles and increasing demand for better quality products and services. The change in their economic power has significant impact on global tourism as this group of more educated and affluent segment of the Muslim population are not only spending more on better quality products, they are also spending more on travel, in recent times.
This makes the Muslim travel market one of the fastest growing niche travel market in the world and it is therefore a significant part of the entire global travel market. This fast growing global Muslim travel market has captured the attention of most countries around the world. Famous tourist destinations can now be seen offering better facilities as well as launching campaigns to attract more and more Muslim travelers from around the world.
Asian Muslim travelers are a significant part of the global Muslim travel market, and destinations targeting the Muslim travel market as a whole will have to take into consideration the preferences and nuances of the Asian traveler when creating strategies and campaigns to influence their decision on the destination choice. It is possible to communicate to a specific segment of the Muslim travel market, to influence the choice of their next holiday destination. In order to increase the number of visitors received from a particular destination it is necessary to know their preferences and travel intentions to effectively implement destination marketing strategies.
Like all Muslim travelers, Asian travelers also require Muslim-friendly facilities to be available at the destination they choose. Islamic lifestyle related services such as, availability of halal food, prayer facilities, separate recreational services, are some of the unique yet common requirements of all Muslim travelers. This Asian Muslim travel segment may however also have different intentions for travel and their needs and wants vary from travelers from other regions.
Many Asians in recent times are traveling overseas for medical reasons, business, as well as for education. Therefore destinations are targeting these travelers by creating and implementing strategies to attract this sector of travelers. Several countries are promoting medical tourism while some are promoting value of money destination for medical check-ups. Traveling for higher education too has increased greatly as many students are choosing to study overseas. Promoting the country or city as a hub for education could result in increased number of students traveling to the destination.
The largest groups of travelers from this region are those traveling for leisure. Muslims who travel for leisure purposes are asserting their needs and demanding for more facilities from destination, as they want to enjoy some of the same activities as their non-Muslim counterparts. Muslim women can now enjoy a beach holiday or relax by going to a spa like other women, as a few services have introduced separate enclosed and private areas for women only. These services will be at an advantage as they have not only realized the potential of this fast growing market they have also successfully implemented their market strategies.
To successfully implement destination marketing strategies to attract the Asian Muslim traveler it is necessary for destinations to know the travelers intentions and their preferences in order to cater to their specific needs and therefore become the destination of choice.
