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HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? RANKINGS

HOW

ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19?

JULY 2019

Pear Anderson 1 HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? RANKINGS INTRODUCTION

We all know that one of the first things that travellers do to get inspired and research their trips is go online – and Muslim travellers are no different.

National Tourism Organisation (NTO) websites play a pivotal role in that research process. A recent study which we undertook found that when Muslim travellers were researching how Muslim friendly a destination is, turning to an NTO or destination tourism website was the second favourite source (14%), after getting recommendations from friends and family (18%).

The Muslim travel segment is substantial, with total GDP impact set to be $183 billion by 2020, and employing 5.6 million people worldwide. Even looking at a country’s tourism GDP, the percentage generated by Muslim tourism in non- Muslim majority countries ranges from 4% in Vietnam to 17% in Singapore1.

Although interpretations of may differ from country to country, there are two basic “Muslim friendly travel” needs which must be fulfilled:

1. Halal food and drink. Food and drinks consumed by Muslims must be halal, at its most basic meaning they should include no pork, alcohol or blood 2. Place for prayer. Muslims must perform prayer five times a day, although this can be lessened to three times whilst travelling

If an NTO wants to tap on to this lucrative sector, it follows that their online presence should provide Muslim friendly travel information – detailing how Muslim travellers can visit their destination in a faith compatible way.

In this report, we look at the top ranked non-Muslim countries to see how many of them are doing just that.

1 Global Economic Impact of Muslim Tourism and Future Growth: 2017 – 2020

Pear Anderson HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? RANKINGS RANKINGS

We compared how the top visited countries in the are faring when it comes to the availability of Muslim traveller online resources produced by their respective NTOs.

We looked at the 2018’s top 50 most visited countries ranked by the UNWTO, and excluded Muslim majority countries (we presume that if a traveller knows that a country is already Muslim friendly then they will not be so concerned prior to travelling about locating Muslim friendly facilities).

The top 10 highest NTO scorers for providing online Muslim travellers resources are:

TABLE 1: TOP 10 HIGHEST NTO SCORERS

NUMBER OF RANK COUNTRY POINTS

1 19

2 16

3 15

3 15

3 IRELAND 15

4 14

5 13

6 12

7 10

8 9

Pear Anderson HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? RANKINGS

8 out of the top 10 NTOs are located in the APAC area, signalling a significant interest in attracting Muslim travellers from this area. Just two are from : Spain and Ireland.

By contrast, if we look at the top 10 countries visited, we can see that many of the NTOs below do not even have basic online information for Muslim travellers regarding facilities in the country. This is despite the fact that Muslim tourism as a percentage of overall tourism GDP can count for as much as 9% in the case of the USA and .

TABLE 2: TOP 10 MOST VISITED COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD TOTAL NUMBER OF POINTS

MUSLIM TOURISM AS % NUMBER OF RANK COUNTRY OF OVERALL TOURISM POINTS GDP BY 2020

1 0 8%2

2 SPAIN 12 8%

3 USA 0 9%

4 CHINA 0 9%

5 0 8%

6 MEXICO 0 Not known

7 0 8%

8 UK 0 8%

9 THAILAND 16 10%

10 7 8%

2 GDP tourism percentages taken from Global Economic Impact of Muslim Tourism and Future Growth: 2017 – 2020. EU countries in the list above share the same number, based on estimates for the EU-28

Pear Anderson 4 HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? RANKINGS

Out of the 50 countries, only 19 scored points at all, leaving 62% of NTOs who do not have any information aimed at Muslim travellers on their website. This is a significant proportion who are potentially weakening their ability to attract this market.

WHAT TOP SCORING NTOS ARE DOING RIGHT

We take a look at what some of the top scoring NTOs: Japan, Thailand, Republic of Ireland and Hong Kong, are doing well.

Japan National Tourism Organization (JNTO): Dedicated website

Source : https://muslimguide.jnto.go.jp/eng/

The JNTO scored the highest out of all NTOs due its comprehensive online resources aimed at Muslim travellers.

This comprises of a mini website created specifically for Muslim travellers with plenty of information, including the categorisation of Muslim friendly restaurants, as well as the listing of and Muslim friendly hotels.

Pear Anderson 5 HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? RANKINGS

The communication sheet that travellers can print off and present to restaurant and hotel staff is a nice touch, too, especially for a country where not many locals are English speaking.

Lastly, the promotion of content written by Muslim key opinion leaders (KOLs) from a familiarisation trip around Japan provides social proofing, as well as increases the awareness of Japan as a Muslim friendly destination.

Pear Anderson HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? RANKINGS

Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT): Muslim travel app

Providing a list of mosques throughout the country, Muslim friendly accommodation, prayer times, a Qibla compass and restaurants (classified into halal certified and Muslim friendly), this app is also multilingual in English, Thai, Arabic and Bahasa .

There has been some serious intent put behind the content made available for Muslim travellers, allowing them to easily travel around the Kingdom of Thailand.

Tourism Ireland: Featured snippet on search results

Whilst Tourism Ireland does not have such a comprehensive set of Muslim friendly traveller online resources as TAT or JNTO, one area where they do score highly is in visibility on Google’s search results, with the tourism board excerpt quoted at the top of the page.

Pear Anderson HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? RANKINGS

Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB): Innovative collaborations

HKTB are innovative in their approach to providing online resources, both creating their own website section (http://m.discoverhongkong.com/seasia/muslim- friendly/index.jsp) and collaborating with a Muslim travel content site, Have Halal Will Travel (HHWT) http://www.discoverhongkong.com/seasia/plan-your- trip/latest-promotion/Tips-for-Muslim-Traveler-articles.jsp.

Through this HHWT partnership, they have created more blogposts and collateral specifically aimed at Muslim travellers, including a downloadable, multilingual “Bucket List” which lists sightseeing spots as well as some key halal eateries and mosques.

Source : http://www.discoverhongkong.com/seasia/images/plan-your-trip/latest- promotion/HHWT/%28EN%29%20Hong%20Kong%20Bucket%20List%20HHWT_LoRes.pdf

This allows cross-promotion, targeting HHWT’s current readership as well as providing social proofing by having the destination featured on the HHWT site.

Pear Anderson HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? OPPORTUNITIES OPPORTUNITIES

For those NTOs who have not yet started to create online collateral aimed at Muslim travellers, there are plenty of ways in which this information can be incorporated into an NTO website, whether it is:

• Creating a separate website • Creating a mobile app • Creating a specific section on the main NTO website • Including a section in relevant geographies of NTO websites (e.g. site aimed at Indonesian, Middle East, Malaysian travellers) • Including halal as a food category in existing restaurant listings

However, there are two key sections which should be included as a priority:

1. Halal restaurants, ideally noting whether it is certified by Islamic authorities, self-certified, pork-free, vegan, etc 2. Mosques and prayer spaces listings

For those countries who have an Islamic heritage or link, this should be showcased to Muslim travellers. For example, in our research we came across mosques in dating from the 18th century, Eid celebrations in Toronto in Canada, and even a luxury halal resort opening in the Dominican Republic. These are all very attractive hooks to interest Muslim travellers in a destination.

There are even some destinations where the city tourism website actually outranks the NTO website in Muslim friendly search results, e.g. outranking Austria for “Muslim friendly Austria”. The Muslim friendly travel information is available online, but the NTO is not controlling the message.

Many NTOs are targeting Chinese travellers as a priority, pouring money and resources into creating specific collateral. With the Muslim outbound market’s tourism expenditure at $101 billion in 2017 vs. China’s outbound market of $115 billion3, the Muslim tourism market represents a significant opportunity, and more than dignifies its own set of dedicated resources from NTOs worldwide.

The question now is: which NTO can knock Japan off the top spot?

3 https://www.ceicdata.com/en/china/outbound-tourism-expenditure/cn-outbound- tourism-expenditure

Pear Anderson HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? FULL RANKINGS

FULL RANKINGS

NTO Muslim tourism as URL of rank a % of overall Accommo- Customer How easily Google Total OVERALL Destination website/ Prayer Food for tourism GDP by dation centricity found? search points RANK resources arrivals 2020

4 Dedicated website;

JAPAN 11 Not known A B C D 3 4 3 2 3 19 1 webpage; YouTube; video/ e-guide

3 Mobile app;

THAILAND 9 10% A B C 3 3 3 1 3 16 2 Youtube video; webpage

2

SOUTH KOREA 25 Not known A B 3 4 0 Webpage; e- 2 4 15 3 guide

Pear Anderson 2 HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? FULL RANKINGS

2

TAIWAN 30 Not known A 3 4 0 Webpage; e- 3 3 15 3 guide

1 IRELAND 31 8% A B C 3 3 3 1 4 15 3 Webpage

2

SINGAPORE 24 17% A B 3 4 0 Webpage; e- 3 2 14 4 guide

2

HONG KONG 12 Not known A B 3 4 0 Webpage; e- 2 2 13 5 guide

1

SPAIN 2 8% A 2 3 1 1 4 12 6 Webpage

2

NEW ZEALAND 50 5% A B 0 4 0 Webpage; e- 1 3 10 7 guide

1

AUSTRALIA 34 10% A 0 3 0 1 4 9 8 Webpage

1

AUSTRIA 10 8% A B 1 3 0 2 0 7 9 Webpage

Pear Anderson 3 HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? FULL RANKINGS

1

CROATIA 21 8% A B 0 0 1 2 3 7 9 Webpage

1

SWITZERLAND 28 Not known A 0 3 0 1 0 5 10 Webpage

1

SLOVENIA 49 8% A B 0 1 1 1 0 4 11 Webpage

1 BELGIUM

35 8% A 0 1 0 Restaurant 1 0 3 12 (BRUSSELS) listing

1

BULGARIA 33 8% A B 1 0 0 1 0 3 12 Webpage

1

COLOMBIA 46 Not known A B 1 0 0 1 0 3 12 Webpage

1 NORWAY 41 Not known A B 1 0 0 0 2 13 Webpage

FRANCE 1 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

USA 3 9% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

CHINA 4 9% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

Pear Anderson 4 HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? FULL RANKINGS

ITALY 5 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

MEXICO 6 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

GERMANY 7 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

UK 8 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

GREECE 13 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

RUSSIA 14 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

PORTUGAL 15 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

CANADA 16 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

POLAND 17 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

NETHERLANDS 18 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

MACAO 19 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

HUNGARY 20 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

INDIA 22 20% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

UKRAINE 23 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

Pear Anderson 5 HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? FULL RANKINGS

VIETNAM 26 4% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

CZECH

27 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - REPUBLIC

DENMARK 29 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

SOUTH AFRICA 32 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

SWEDEN 36 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

ARGENTINA 37 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

PHILIPPINES 38 9% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

BRAZIL 39 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

CHILE 40 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

DOMINICAN

42 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - REPUBLIC

CAMBODIA 43 5% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

SLOVAKIA 44 8% A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

PERU 45 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

Pear Anderson 6 HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? FULL RANKINGS

PUERTO RICO 47 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

URUGUAY 48 Not known A 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -

Pear Anderson 7 HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? FULL RANKINGS POINTS METHODOLOGY

We are transparent with how we have calculated the points of each NTO, the total possible of which to score was 23. The information should have been created or co-created by the NTO and be available online.

To calculate the number of points an NTO scored, we looked at several areas:

Prayer (maximum 3 points)

1 - List mosques in capital city/ at least one in the country 2 - List mosques and prayer rooms in capital city 3 - List prayer rooms & mosques in major tourist cities

Food (maximum 4 points)

1 - List restaurants in capital city 2 - List restaurants in capital city and categorise them, e.g. halal certificate, self- declared halal, pork-free 3 - List restaurants in major tourist cities 4 - List restaurants in major tourist cities and categorise them

Accommodation (maximum 3 points)

1 - List a few hotels which are Muslim friendly 2 - List hotels in capital city which are Muslim friendly 3 - List hotels which are Muslim friendly in major tourist cities

Customer centricity - what formats are available? (Point for every format mentioned, maximum 6)

1 - Website page 1 - Dedicated website 1 - e-guide 1 - Mobile app 1 – Videos 1 - “Halal” a subcategory in restaurant listings

How easily is the information found on the website (maximum 3 points)

1 - Need to use search box on the NTO website or accessed by google only 2 - Separate section hidden in subsection 3 - Easily found on main menu

How visible are the NTO results on a google search for “Muslim friendly [destination]” (maximum 4 points)

Pear Anderson HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? FULL RANKINGS

1 – Site appears on 3rd page of search results or further 2 – Site appears on 2nd page of search results 3 – Site appears on 1st page of search results 4 – Site appears in top 3 results

Have we missed something for your NTO’s score? Email us at [email protected] and we will adjust it.

Pear Anderson HOW ONLINE READY ARE NTOS FOR MUSLIM TRAVELLERS IN 2O19? ABOUT PEAR ANDERSON ABOUT PEAR ANDERSON

Pear Anderson is a boutique travel-industry consultancy firm, experts in Southeast Asian outbound tourism. They partner across the spectrum of tourism-related organisations to build a lasting foundation in SEA, a market set to be worth USD $76 billion by 2025.

The global Muslim travel segment is a core specialisation. Pear Anderson in partnership with Faeez Fadhilillah, the founder of Tripfez and Salam Standard, travel companies specialising in the Muslim market, provide unique insights, research and training on this lucrative segment.

For more information on how we can help you to target this market, contact us at: [email protected] http://www.pearanderson.com

Cover photo credit: dynamosquito

Pear Anderson