01 Sep 2014
Halal tourism conference to spotlight Muslim travel trends
BY Jak Phillips
This year’s international Halal Tourism Conference in Europe will launch an index of Muslims’ travel habits and current trends, shining light on a market said to be worth millions to the UK tourism industry.
The conference – which takes place in Andalucia, Spain, later this month – will unveil the Muslim Travel Index Europe 2014 which uses travel research from residents from the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Malaysia to outline current travel preferences and perceptions among Muslim communities.
According to the latest figures, the halal tourism sector was worth £84bn (US$140bn, €106bn) in 2013, representing around 13 per cent of global travel expenditure, and this figure is expected to reach £193bn (US$140bn, €147bn) by 2020. In London, there are around 13,400 Muslim-owned businesses making up 33.6 per cent of the total SME’s in the capital.
Meanwhile, recent research from VisitBritain found that Middle Eastern visitors are the biggest shoppers of all UK inbound tourists, noting that the average visit from a Kuwaiti citizen delivers £4,000 (US$6,646, €5,062) to the UK economy, compared to the £343 (US$570, €434) spent by the average French tourist.
“The recent Muslim Travel Index Europe 2014, which surveyed tourists from Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and UAE who travel to Europe, revealed that 93 per cent said it was important that the country they travelled to cater for a halal lifestyle,” said Tasneem Mahmood, director of Birmingham-based event organisers CM Media.
“This shows the demand is there and it means that UK companies can plug that demand. We predict that supplying the halal tourism market could potentially be worth millions of pounds to UK businesses.”
The two-day conference will host around 500 delegates and exhibitors from the Middle East, Far East and Europe, including those currently active in halal tourism and countries looking for help to break into the sector.
Speakers due to appear at the event include Kempinski Hotels VP for IMEA development Chris Nader, Indonesian tourism ministry DG Esthy Reko Astuti, as well as co-founder of HalalBooking.com Elnur Seyidli.
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