One of the biggest indicators of the popularity of a destination is the volume of Muslim visitor arrivals. This is the first time this criteria has been included in the Index. The Muslim visitor arrival figures have been extracted by applying CrescentRating's proprietary Muslim Arrivals calculation model to the overall visitor arrivals as reported by UNWTO.
This study revealed that in 2014, the total Muslim visitor arrivals were 108 million - representing 10% of the entire travel economy.
The visitor arrivals used for this study are the total non-resident tourists who have entered the national borders of each selected inbound destination. The travel and tourism data provided by UNWTO is the primary source of data.
The scores for the Muslim visitor arrival criteria are based on the:
In 2014, 30 destinations accounted for 80% of Muslim visitor arrivals. The top country was Saudi Arabia. This included religious travel to Saudi Arabia.
| OIC 20 average | Non-OIC 20 average | GMTI40 average | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GMTI score | 65.8 | 47.7 | 56.7 |
| Holiday destination | 45.7 | 60.4 | 53.0 |
| Safe travel environment | 89.9 | 86.1 | 88.0 |
| Visitor arrivals | 29.8 | 15 | 22.4 |
| Dining options and Halal assurance | 81.8 | 44.7 | 63.2 |
| Ease of sccess to prayer spaces | 99.0 | 41.3 | 70.2 |
| Airport facilities | 76.7 | 44.2 | 60.5 |
| Accommodation options | 46.2 | 32.0 | 39.1 |
| Ease of communication | 58.7 | 51.6 | 51.2 |
| Travel needs awareness and reach out | 49.2 | 31.9 | 40.5 |
To access the complete Global Muslim Travel Index 2015, please visit: http://gmti.crescentrating.com/mastercard-crescentrating-global-muslim-travel-index-2015-gmti2015.html
