Indonesia Third Most Popular Muslim Holiday Destination in the World
Jakarta. Indonesia has moved up one position into third place among the world's favorite Muslim holiday destinations following a concerted effort by the government to lure more international travelers into the country, according to a recent report by global payment company Mastercard and halal-friendly travel accreditation service CrescentRating.
Indonesia ranks third out of 130 Muslim holiday destinations according to a report called "Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2017," up from four a year earlier.
Indonesia scored 72.6 in this year's report, behind Malaysia (82.5) and United Arab Emirates (76.9).
"Indonesia has invested heavily into this sector and this is reflected in its improvement in the overall rankings for a second consecutive year," Fazal Bahardeen, CrescentRating and HalalTrip chief executive officer, said in a statement.
The ratings were based on several criteria, including accessibility, ease of communication, environment and Muslim-friendly services such as access to halal food and prayer rooms.
Indonesia, according to Bahardeen, is welcoming younger Muslim travelers who want to explore the world while still adhering to their faith-based needs.
According to Bahardeen, Muslim travel market offers vast opportunity amid growing global Muslim visitors. There were 121 million Muslim visitor arrivals globally last year, up from 117 million in 2015. The number is expected to grow to 156 million by 2020.
Muslim travel market is also expected to grow to $220 billion by 2020 and $300 billion by 2026.
Commenting on the index, Indonesia's Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said the country could do better in both efforts and results. "Indonesia should've been number one," Arief said.
Indonesia targets 3.7 million international Muslim travelers this year, up from 2.7 million last year. In general, Indonesia is targeting 15 million visitors from across the globe this year.
Arief said the government has prepared Lombok in West Nusa Tenggara — locally known as the land of 1,000 mosques — to be the country's number one Muslim-friendly travel destination by promoting its resorts, local culinary traditions and natural beauty.
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