Sep 21, 2015

Malaysia tops the 2015 MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) Index for the fifth year in a row

“Against the backdrop of a new set of criteria Malaysia topped the 2015 GMTI with a score of 83.8. It was followed by Turkey at 73.8 and UAE at 72.1. It is the fifth year in a row that Malaysia has ranked number one having topped the previous rankings produced by CrescentRating since 2011.

Although OIC destinations have a distinct advantage due to having Muslim friendly facilities and services by default, there is a still a requirement to create a clear and coherent strategy across every level to fully maximise their attractiveness to Muslim tourists. It is a commitment that Malaysia, and to an extent Turkey, has embraced wholeheartedly over the last decade. In 2014 Malaysia and Turkey attracted 13% of total Muslim travelers...”

In 2011 CrescentRating published the first ever research into the Halal travel market with the release of the Top 10 Muslim friendly holiday destinations. A year later this report was enhanced to include new data to distinguish between destinations with a large Muslim population (OIC member states) and others.

The 2012 report included rankings of the Top 10 Muslim friendly OIC holiday destinations and Top 10 Muslim friendly non-OIC holiday destinations. In 2013 the Index further evolved to cover 50 destinations across the world with each rated out of a score of 10. This list was expanded to cover 60 destinations in 2014. The top 100 destinations ranked in the 2015 report are taken from 110 studies, including 29 OIC destinations and 81 non-OIC destinations. These hundred destinations represent more than 95% of Muslim visitor arrivals in 2014.