The Muslim Travel Market is growing amidst a dynamic landscape with various environmental factors set to change and affect businesses and consumers. While the future remains optimistic, here are 10 key questions to help the Muslim travel industry better prepare for these changes:
As the Muslim travel industry continues to mature, more companies will enter the market, with consumers on the other end wanting greater influence in the services created for them. How can industry players better collaborate and change their business models to become more inclusive in this new lateral landscape?
As technology rapidly improves, human touch-points will be increasingly replaced with new technology systems and disruptions. How can service providers continue to innovate and adapt their offerings to improve the experiences of Muslim travelers while at the same time maintaining high service standards?
With Muslim travelers becoming increasingly younger, attitudes, purchasing behavior and affinity towards traditional brands and services may change. At the same time, multigenerational families and travelers who require more traditional services will still exist. How can the industry evolve to remain relevant for these varied segments of Muslim travelers?
The female Muslim segment will continue to remain highly influential especially for service providers who wish to differentiate and serve to the unique needs of this group. How can the industry continue to better cater to this segment?
As Muslims continue to travel more frequently, this increases the phenomenon of transnational Muslim consumers who may not prioritize the need to consume specific brands especially when travelling across borders. How should brands target these highly mobile consumers?
As the demand for Muslim-friendly travel increases, countries must continue to improve and integrate their initiatives to better serve the Muslim markets. How can countries do this and position themselves distinctively in the minds of Muslim travelers?
With each country aiming to improve its GMTI score to better cater to the needs of Muslim travelers, this healthy competition will be beneficial for Muslim travelers. How can countries better coordinate with one another to also attract travelers to their regions as a whole?
Due to business and legal barriers as well as uncertain political climates, access to certain markets can become a challenge for some industry and service providers. How can the industry better organize itself to educate, support and facilitate Muslim travel in these challenging environments?
With increasing growth and attraction for Muslim-friendly services, service providers may need to attract more culturally diverse Muslim markets and even non-Muslim travelers to these niche services. How can service providers balance their brand communications to deliver a clear message that appeals to all segments?
With consumers increasingly demanding companies to be more ethical in their business practices, the Muslim travel industry is no exception to this rising demand of transparency and fairness. How can service providers better create and communicate ethical value in their products and services for the benefit of the industry?
The full GMTI 2017 report is available here: https://www.crescentrating.com/reports/mastercard-crescentrating-global-muslim-travel-index-gmti-2017.html
