From 2016 to 2030, the scores of Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand in the MasterCard-CrescentRating Ramadan Travel Report 2016, in terms of how friendly these destinations are for Muslim travelers in Ramadan, remain largely unchanged. This is due to the relative consistency in average daytime temperatures and fasting durations of these equatorial destinations.

However, due to the increasing attractiveness of the Middle Eastern destinations, the rankings of the top five Southeast Asia destinations (Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand) are projected to decline from 2016 to 2030.

In 2030, Malaysia is the only country expected to retain a spot amongst the top five destinations. In addition, Thailand will drop out of the top 20 rankings as early as 2021.

Malaysia will be able to maintain a strong leadership position as the most attractive destination for Muslim travelers in Ramadan for 10 years from 2016 to 2026 due to its strong Muslim friendly environment. It is expected to drop a couple of places in the following years.

Key Steps to Weather The Storm Faced by Southeast Asia Destinations

• Introduce more Muslim friendly services. Destinations can differentiate by introducing more Ramadan specific products and services, which cater to the needs of the Muslim traveler in Ramadan.

• These can be synergised and consolidated into a campaign targeting Muslims to experience Ramadan in Southeast Asia.

• This is especially useful for destinations which will not experience much variations in temperature and fasting durations.

Download the full MasterCard-CrescentRating Ramadan Travel Report 2016 here