·
restaurants
score heavily
·
35,000
Muslim travellers participate in Sociable Earth’s survey on Halal Tourism
·
Key
results of survey to be unveiled at Global Halal Tourism Summit at ATM 2018
Non-Muslim
countries especially those in the western world, can do more if they want to
attract increasing numbers of global Muslim travellers, according to a new
halal tourism survey, which was
created to coincide with Arabian Travel Market 2018, which takes place in Dubai
from April 22-25.
A total of 35,000 Muslim
travellers participated in the survey which was arranged by Sociable Earth, an
organisation that provides practical travel information to Muslim travellers,
which through associate company Hadith of the Day, has access to over 15
million social media followers.
Commenting,
Omar Ahmed, Founder and CEO of Sociable Earth, said; “We felt there was a great need to understand Muslim
travellers and we’re delighted to announce we created the largest survey ever
conducted for Muslim travellers.
“Over 35,000 people participated in
this survey which gained us immense insight into the travel market. Certainly,
the halal
travel market has graduated from its niche status to become an industry-shaping
force, in its own right.”
According to the survey, respondents said non-Muslim
countries should increase their variety of halal food in the hotel (61.3%),
list nearby mosques (61.1%) and halal restaurants (55.2%) and offer private
pool villas (14%) to attract more Muslim guests.
The key findings of the
study will be examined during the ATM’s Global Stage session entitled ‘Halal
Travel Becomes Mainstream’, part of the Global Halal Tourism Summit. The panel
session will explore how the non-Muslim travel industry is adapting to changing
demands from the growing number of Muslim travellers.
Ahmed will be joined on
stage by Maggie
Bootsman, UAE Manager for Travel Counsellors; Miguel Nieto-Sandoval, Tourism
Counsellor, Embassy of Spain - Gulf region; and Tamara Tawil, Market Manager,
Geneva Tourism.
During a recent visitor campaign, The
Geneva Tourist Board hired Sociable Earth to create a new halal section on
their official website and tasked them with driving traffic to this new section
which highlighted the Halal friendliness of Geneva.
“Our target was to reach 50,000
unique visitors to the site within six weeks from two of their prime target
markets. We ended up getting them 70,000 visits in four weeks,” said Ahmed.
“We have since been contacted by
numerous GCC hoteliers who have also expressed an interest in attracting more
Muslim visitors from across the globe,” he added.
“As stakeholders across the tourism and hospitality
industries now look to capitalise on this, they must understand the trends that
define the sector and adapt accordingly. Flexible room configurations,
appropriate leisure activities and dining options, can all help halal
travellers feel more at home when exploring new, non-Muslim, destinations.”
The survey also found that
with almost 30% of the vote, Dubai was the most aspirational holiday
destination, followed by Turkey (16%), Maldives (12%), Malaysia (9%) and Mauritius
(6%). Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and the UK each polled 5.6% with the US
on 5.5%.
In another interesting
response, that will no doubt interest marketing professionals, more than 78% of
respondents in the survey select their holiday destination as a family, with
only 1.5% leaving the decision solely to their children. Naming their number
one priorities for a trip, access to halal food is the most important factor,
scoring 39.5% of the vote and proximity to Masjids was also important, taking
32.8%, while 22% named family friendly activities.
In terms of average spend,
73% of respondents spend $2,000 or less compared to 18.2% of travellers who
have a budget of $2,000 to $4,000, while only 1.1% spend $10,000 or more.
“These figures demonstrate
a demand for family-focused, down-to-earth holidays, which offer value for
money and essential home from home facilities. Across the Middle East we see
these preferences catered for in hotels of all star ratings, however many
international markets have only a small number of suitable properties. This
presents many opportunities to develop bespoke accommodation and attractive
options in line with local market needs,” said Ahmed.
