Global Muslim Travel Index 2015 saw the inclusion of several ASEAN countries – including Malaysia which was ranked the best Muslim-friendly destination for Muslim travellers. Read on for more details on how other ASEAN destinations performed on the Index and how well they cater to Muslim travellers.
Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos were the ASEAN destinations that were analysed and ranked by the Global Muslim Travel Index 2015. The ranks were based on an overall GMTI score which took several factors into consideration, such as visitor arrivals, availability of Halal food and prayer space access.
The nine ASEAN destinations were ranked as follows:
|
DESTINATION |
GMTI SCORE |
GMTI RANK |
|
83.8 |
1 |
|
|
67.5 |
6 |
|
|
65.2 |
9 |
|
|
64.3 |
11 |
|
|
59.4 |
20 |
|
|
41.8 |
47 |
|
|
35 |
66 |
|
|
32 |
76 |
|
|
27.5 |
94 |
The ASEAN destinations performed relatively well on the Index, with five of the nine destinations being ranked amongst the top 20 countries – amongst both OIC and non-OIC destinations. Malaysia, Indonesia were ranked amongst the top 10 Muslim-friendly destinations and were placed 1st, 6th and 9th respectively.
Malaysia was ranked number one for a fifth consecutive year - having topped the previous rankings produced by CrescentRating since 2011. Malaysia has consistently ranked high in all criteria and factors and remains a fantastic holiday destination with an excellent Muslim-friendly environment.
Though ranked 9th overall, Singapore was ranked the best Muslim-friendly destination in the non-OIC destination category. Singapore boasts some of the best Halal food environments in non-OIC destinations – even when compared against OIC destinations – and has invested and adapted processes to cater to Muslim travellers. With its offerings over the last few years, it has successfully reached out to the Muslim travel market.
Thailand has also shown much improvement over the years and was placed 20th in the overall index with a score of 60.3 - the only other non-OIC destination besides Singapore to rank amongst the top 20.
The MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2015 was launched to provide in-depth Muslim travel insights on travel and tourism services. These insights provide an extensive understanding of the Muslim travel market and is beneficial to all those in the hospitality sector. Using the Index, destinations will be able to benchmark their services and use the detailed analysis in the report to improve processes in order to better appeal to Muslim travellers.
For the complete report and rankings, visit: http://gmti.crescentrating.com/mastercard-crescentrating-global-muslim-travel-index-2015-gmti2015.html
Fazal Bahardeen is the CEO of CrescentRating
