'Halal Travel' Helps Muslims Explore World Like Never Before Here's What We Know...

Halal, meaning ‘permissible’ in Islamic teachings, is an attribute which when applied to tourism indicates that provision has been made for practising Muslims to carry out their religious duties while on holiday. Given the increasing numbers of Muslim holiday makers, halal tourism is becoming a lucrative industry.

The value of halal tourism

Based on the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2017 (GMTI), an estimated 120 million Muslim travellers participated in global tourism in 2016 alone. By 2020, this figure is set to hit 156 million travellers – 10% of the international travel segment.

With such growth on the horizon, it is understandable that the halal tourism market is set to penetrate major tourism destinations. On market value alone, the GMTI estimates that Muslim travellers will be worth a whopping $300 billion by 2026. It’s no wonder that many countries are already eyeing this market, and starting to make moves towards ‘halal-ising’ their tourism offerings.

Countries such as Malaysia, however, have already established themselves as the cornerstones of halal tourism. Ranked as the top destination for Muslim travellers by the GMTI for the third year in a row, Malaysia benefits from the fact that 60% of its population is Muslim. This has allowed the country to adapt its day-to-day amenities to servicing the needs of an international-traveller clientele.

Asia, as a whole, has quite quickly adopted the concept of halal tourism. Aside from Muslim-majority countries such as Malaysia and Indonesia, which currently dominate the market space, countries such as Japan and Thailand have recently opened up ‘halal hotels’ in clear moves to expand their tourism markets.

Malaysia was named as the top destination fro Muslim travellers

Catering to Muslim travellers

Adopting halal-friendly policies may not be as daunting a task as one might think. The main need is for destinations to provide a few amenities on a relatively accessible scale, especially in dense tourist spots.

A straw poll among acquaintances suggests that the most common requests are for restaurants with no alcoholic or pork-based food and drink, halal-certified businesses (however, some respondents accepted that this might be difficult to provide in smaller areas), and accessible, serviced areas to pray.

With more and more Muslim travellers, many of whom are millennials, it is clear that halal tourism is an offering that extends beyond religious needs. Islam, as a religion, encourages believers to travel for the purpose of acquiring knowledge, so it is understandable that many seek more authentic experiences that still incorporate their religious values.

A Muslim prayer room at a Taiwanese airport

The rise of halal tourism agencies

In light of this, there has been a plethora of travel agencies popping up catering specifically to Muslim clients. Companies such as HalalBooking.com, Halal Trip, and Sun Sea and Halal allow their clients to use the tools of the millennial age to scout and research their upcoming destinations, and even order services such as food parcels and prayer kits in advance, to ensure that their travels are unimpeded by their religious needs.

Several organisations have also grouped together to hold summits and conferences to boost halal tourism. One such gathering was the Halal Tourist Congress in the Netherlands last year, which was part of the global effort to boost the amount of halal-savvy businesses and tour packages around the world, especially in Muslim-minority countries such as Thailand and Spain.

Emerging trends

Increasing numbers of millennial Muslim travellers want to venture towards new horizons in search of personal growth, fresh experiences, and to make new bonds, all while preserving their culture and heritage. It isn’t limited to religious pilgrimages.

Halal tourism is about providing the additional services that allow Muslim travellers the ability to continue practising their faith, while enjoying the same luxuries of travel that are afforded to others.

Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.

Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.

Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.

Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.

We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.