Muslims to outpace global average when it comes to travel growth By 2020, 14 percent of all international trips will be undertaken by Muslims who will outpace the global average when it comes to travel growth .
And given that 67 percent of respondents in a survey that polled close to 1,000 Muslims said that the availability of halal foods was the most important consideration when booking their holiday, tour operators and tourism offices may do well to ramp up Muslim-friendly services, suggest the authors of the report.
According to DinarStandard, which specialises in emerging Muslim markets, the travel industry would do well to respond to Muslim travel needs given that by 2020, growth will have reached nearly five percent compared to the global figure of 3.8 percent.
Half of the respondents polled were from Asia, 22 percent from the Middle East and Asia, and 15 percent from the Americas.
After halal food and cooking, the second most important factor for Muslim travellers was price, followed by a \"Muslim-friendly\" atmosphere.
That could mean everything from prayer rooms to special services for the holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr.
The survey also showed that the preferred destinations among Muslim travellers are Malaysia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
The results mirror those released earlier this year by Singapore-based Muslim travel consultancy group Crescentrating, which listed Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia as the world’s top Muslim-friendly holiday destinations.