Developing Muslim-friendly tourist industry to ensure sustainability

Accoording to World Islamic Financial system Indicator Report 2020, the spending of Muslims on journey elevated by 2.7 per cent in 2019 from $189 billion to $194 billion. Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar ranked as the highest three international locations by spending. Nevertheless, as a result of devastating impression of the Covid-19 disaster, Muslim client spending on journey is predicted to fall by 70 per cent to $58 billion in 2020.

The UN World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) estimated that the business misplaced a complete of $320 billion in simply 5 months – between January and Might 2020. The UN Convention on Commerce and Growth (UNCTAD) has forecast $2.2 trillion in losses for the business in 2020.

Whereas all the world is anticipating Covid-19 vaccines because the highly effective answer, many international locations have began strategic preparations for his or her vacationer business to get better, Muslim-friendly tourism included.

Usually, Muslim-friendly tourism just isn’t completely different from halal tourism, Islamic tourism or sharia tourism. Nevertheless, in some international locations, tourism gamers desire the time period “Muslim-friendly” as a substitute of the remainder. Muslim-friendly tourism is outlined as a kind of tourism that adheres to the values of Islam. In Muslim-friendly hospitality, it’s urged that every one product growth and advertising and marketing efforts are designed for and directed at Muslims.

Muslim-friendly hospitality providers corresponding to airways, resorts and meals providers are the brand new quick creating tourism merchandise within the Muslim-friendly vacationer business.

If Indonesia can be fascinated about creating Muslim-friendly tourism, among the many obligatory necessities to fulfil is creating the nationwide framework. It is because that in actuality, there have been many client complaints associated to hospitality providers. These contains deceptive ads, fraud vacation packages, unfair contract phrases, non-disclosure of data, low high quality and inefficient providers and many others.

It’s thus crucial to look at these points from client views to make sure that Muslim-friendly hospitality providers are consumer-friendly providers and free from such issues. In doing so it’s essential to make sure customers are adequately protected by authorized and administrative rules.

In 2012, my workforce and I studied the Muslim-friendly tourism framework in Malaysia. It was discovered that in an effort to guarantee sustainability of Muslim-friendly tourism, a number of points wanted to be addressed – the necessity for authorized and administrative framework associated to Muslim-friendly hospitality providers typically; the efficacy of administration and administration of legal guidelines associated to hospitality providers; and authorized protections with regard to the involvement of vacationer industries in Muslim-friendly tourism and hospitality to make sure their sustainability and the power to compete with multinational firms.

We imagine that tourism continues to imagine a key function within the Indonesian economic system to propel the nation right into a high-income nation by the 12 months 2045. In Asia Pacific, Indonesia was ranked because the tenth most-visited nation within the UNWTO’s Tourism Highlights 2019 Version with 15.5 million worldwide vacationer arrivals in 2019. Muslim travellers made up round 20 per cent of the entire inbound vacationers to Indonesia yearly. In 2018, the nation drew round three million Muslim travellers, contributing $3.9 billion to the economic system.

Muslim-friendly hospitality and tourism providers is a high-yield phase that has the potential to develop and contribute towards Indonesia’s development.

The provision of halal meals, existence of mosques and musholla (prayer room) in public locations, tax-free procuring zones and a Muslim-friendly ambiance just isn’t sufficient to maintain the expansion and growth of Muslim-friendly hospitality providers in Indonesia. In the long term it needs to be a extremely regulated business that is ready to set a world customary.

Though it’s virtually unattainable to have a fool-proof system, a set of legal guidelines, rules and administrative mechanisms have to be developed to make sure its development and sustainability. For instance, a correct definition and terminology that surrounds the business could be very a lot wanted to keep away from misconceptions and misunderstandings amongst customers.

To additional assist the business and to keep away from client fraud, it’s extremely perceived that amenities and providers generally related to the business, corresponding to devoted zones for leisure and wellness, should be correctly registered and controlled.

It needs to be a requirement {that a} particular coaching programme be designed for e-Muslim vacationer guides. Equally, each well being and wellness spa claiming to be Muslim-friendly needs to be legally registered and licensed by the related authority.

THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Irwandi Jaswir is a professor on the Worldwide Institute for Halal Analysis and Coaching, Worldwide Islamic College Malaysia.