Indonesian tourism has increased two ranks to become the second position in The Global Travel Muslim Index (GTMI) 2022. This shows the huge potential and competitiveness of Indonesian halal tourism in the world.
Founder & CEO of Crescentrating & Halaltrip, Fazal Bahardeen, at the 2022 Halal in Travel Global Summit in Singapore on Wednesday (01/06/2022) announced this achievement in front of the Indonesian delegation led by the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy (Menparekraf) Sandiaga Uno.
Meanwhile, Indonesia beat Saudi Arabia in third, Turkey in fourth, and the United Arab Emirates in fifth. While the first position is occupied by Malaysia.
The potential for halal tourism in Indonesia The Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy said he hopes that the new ranking of halal tourism in Indonesia can increase market potential and bring economic recovery.
"We hope that this award will bring recovery, create jobs and God willing, restore the economy through halal tourism," said Sandiaga.
The mosque, which won the award as the mosque with the best architectural design in the world in the 2021 Abdullatif Al Fozan Mosque Architecture competition, was crowded with visitors during the month of Ramadan to worship as well as travel because it is an icon of religious tourism in the city.
This optimism was conveyed by Sandiaga, referring to the large potential of the halal tourism market. Data shows that in 2019, Muslims around the world spent a total of US$2.02 trillion on food, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, fashion, travel and recreation.
Meanwhile, the global Muslim market is expected to grow to US$2.4 trillion by 2024. The largest expenditure for Muslim consumers is on halal food and beverages.
"In my opinion, we must create business opportunities based on halal tourism. There are several destinations (tourism) that we excel at, such as Aceh, West Sumatra, West Java, Lombok, and South Kalimantan as leading destinations," he said.
"We want to create many jobs with several activities that hopefully can generate the economy from this halal tourism segment," added Sandiaga.
The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy has drawn up policies related to halal tourism. However, Sandiaga emphasized that halal tourism does not mean Islamization of tourist attractions. Instead, it provides additional services related to facilities, tourists, attractions, and accessibility to meet the experiences and needs of Muslim tourists.
