At a macro level, the Muslim population can be segmented by those in Muslim-majority countries and those living as sizeable minorities. Whilst the Muslim tourism market is sizeable and an attractive growth market, it is geographically distributed and culturally diverse. These variances have implications on differences even within Muslim travelers in terms of tourism destination preferences, travel habits and patterns.
For a clear comparison and analysis, the Global Muslim Travel Index separates destinations into the categories of OIC destinations and non-OIC destinations for a better depiction of how Muslim-majority countries fared against each other and how non-Muslim majority countries performed on the Index.
The following table shows the rankings of the top 20 OIC and non-OIC destinations:
The category for OIC destinations was topped by Malaysia, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia and Qatar - which were the top 5 destinations on the Index. Singapore topped the non-OIC destination category and was the only non-OIC destination to be included in the top 10 destinations of the overall Index.
Overall scores of OIC countries have marginally improved. The most notable improvement in 2016 was seen in Muslim visitor arrivals, with significant decline in Muslim travel needs awareness and outreach due to low promotional activity except in a few countries.
The average score for the Top 20 non-OIC countries has improved. This clearly illustrates the efforts taken by non-OIC destinations to improve their Muslim-friendly services.
For a full analysis and to access the complete Global Muslim Travel Index 2016, please visit:https://www.crescentrating.com/mastercard-crescentrating-global-muslim-travel-index-gmti-2016.html
