| Azlan Othman |
BRUNEI Darussalam will be among the top five destinations for Muslims during Ramadhan this year and next year, according to a new research report released on Thursday by MasterCard and CrescentRating.
According to the inaugural MasterCard-CrescentRating Ramadhan Travel Report 2016, the rankings of the top five Southeast Asia destinations (Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand) are projected to decline in the coming years.
The growing trend by Muslims to travel during the fasting period will see destinations in the Gulf Cooperation Council region become the most attractive by 2023, the report noted.
According to the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2016, there were 117 million Muslim international travellers globally in 2015, representing close to 10 per cent of the entire travel market. This is forecast to grow to 168 million visitors by 2020, the equivalent of 11 per cent of the market segment, with a market value projected to exceed $200 billion.
The Ramadhan Travel Report 2016 said Brunei will slip to 8th position in 2018 and 2019, and will further drop from 2020 onwards.
In 2030, Malaysia is the only country expected to retain a spot among the top five destinations. In addition, Thailand will drop out of the top 20 rankings as early as 2021.
To weather the economic storms, the report urged Southeast Asian countries to introduce more Muslim-friendly services and products, which cater to the needs of the Muslim traveller during Ramadhan.
A total of 50 destinations across the globe were analysed in the study, and benchmarked across three criteria: average daytime temperatures, fasting duration and Global Muslim Travel Index 2016 scores over the next 15 years until 2030.
This is the first report of its kind to provide destinations and businesses in the tourism industry with useful insights on how to develop medium to long-term strategies to attract Muslim travellers during Ramadhan, and over the coming years.
Since March 2015, the MasterCard-CrescentRating partnership has seen the release of a number reports on the Muslim travel market.
These reports have become premier resources for destinations and businesses to develop strategies to attract and cater to the needs of the growing Muslim travel segment.
The MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) is now the global benchmark on how destinations are performing in attracting the Muslim market segment.
According to the GMTI 2016, Malaysia leads the top five favoured spots for Muslim travellers, followed by the UAE, Turkey, Indonesia and Qatar. Brunei was placed in the 12th spot with an index score of 64.6. In the 2015 GMTI report, Brunei was 10th with a score of 64.
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