The industry will, directly and indirectly, employ 5.6 million people worldwide by the end of the decade and have a projected tax impact of $24 billion, the ‘Global Economic Impact of Muslim Tourism and Future Growth Projection: 2017-2020’ report by Salam Standard has revealed.
Inbound Muslim travellers spent an estimated $127 billion in 2017, which is forecast to rise to at least $157 billion by 2020.
The US has the highest GDP impact from Muslim travel for an individual country, expected to reach $21.4 billion by 2020. The Middle East comes in second place, with a projected $18 billion, while Asia is rapidly closing the gap with Europe, at $12.6 billion and $13.3 billion respectively.
The Middle East is by far the largest source market worldwide in this respect, contributing $62.2 billion in 2017 and forecast to rise to $72 billion in 2020, with a 59 per cent market share. Travellers from Saudi Arabia and the UAE are the biggest spenders, with their share of the global total predicted to reach a staggering 41 per cent by the end of the decade.
The report provides travel industry stakeholders, including airlines, airports, hotels, travel start-ups, technology firms, tourism boards, Destination Management Companies and Online Travel Agencies (OTAs), with advice on how to best cater and market to the global Muslim travel community.
It highlights the opportunities for non-Muslim destinations, providing examples of countries who have benefited from ‘halal tourism’ strategies targeting Muslim travellers.
In Australia, for example, inbound Muslim travel is expected to contribute 10.3 per cent of total tourism GDP by 2020, while in Singapore and Thailand, the contributions are forecast at 16.5 per cent and 9.5 per cent respectively.
The full ‘Global Economic Impact of Muslim Tourism and Future Growth Projection: 2017-2020’ report, launched at World Travel Market (WTM) in London, is available on Salam Standard.