SINGAPORE: Malaysia has been rated the world’s top Muslim friendly holiday destination in a survey released yesterday.
The study by Singapore-based Muslim travel consultancy Crescentrating ranked countries on how well they cater to the growing number of Muslim holidaymakers seeking halal – or Islam-compliant – food and services.
It used criteria including the level of safety in a country, ease of access to halal food and prayer facilities, and whether hotels cater to the needs of Muslim guests. On a scale of one to 10 in which 10 is the best score, Malaysia came out number one with a grade of 8.3 among 50 nations surveyed.
Egypt was in second place with 6.7, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Turkey both with 6.6. Crescentrating chief executive Fazal Bahardeen said the survey took the traveller’s view, meaning that it measured the ease of access by Muslim tourists to halal food and facilities. “Malaysia is one of the few countries where you can find a prayer place in almost every location – be it a shopping mall or the airport,” Fazal said.
In terms of cities as a shopping destination, Dubai pipped Kuala Lumpur for the number-one spot. Istanbul, Jeddah, Singapore, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, London and Doha completed the top-10 shopping destinations.
Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport were rated among the friendliest to Muslim travellers.
Spending byMuslim tourists is growing faster than the global rate and is forecast to reach $192 billion (RM579 billion) a year by 2020. – AFP
The study by Singapore-based Muslim travel consultancy Crescentrating ranked countries on how well they cater to the growing number of Muslim holidaymakers seeking halal – or Islam-compliant – food and services.
It used criteria including the level of safety in a country, ease of access to halal food and prayer facilities, and whether hotels cater to the needs of Muslim guests. On a scale of one to 10 in which 10 is the best score, Malaysia came out number one with a grade of 8.3 among 50 nations surveyed.
Egypt was in second place with 6.7, followed by the United Arab Emirates and Turkey both with 6.6. Crescentrating chief executive Fazal Bahardeen said the survey took the traveller’s view, meaning that it measured the ease of access by Muslim tourists to halal food and facilities. “Malaysia is one of the few countries where you can find a prayer place in almost every location – be it a shopping mall or the airport,” Fazal said.
In terms of cities as a shopping destination, Dubai pipped Kuala Lumpur for the number-one spot. Istanbul, Jeddah, Singapore, Cairo, Abu Dhabi, New Delhi, London and Doha completed the top-10 shopping destinations.
Thailand’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and the Kuala Lumpur International Airport were rated among the friendliest to Muslim travellers.
Spending byMuslim tourists is growing faster than the global rate and is forecast to reach $192 billion (RM579 billion) a year by 2020. – AFP
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