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Muslim Millennial Travelers Are a Big Hit at the Travel Industry

Muslim Millennial Travelers are digital savvy, goltune news, modest fashion, halal travel
©Goltune News 2018

Source: ©The Moodie Davitt Report

Press Release –  Muslim travelers are projected to spend $180 billion USD in online travel purchases by 2026, According to Mastercard-Crescent Rating Digital Muslim Travel Report 2018, or DMTR2018, that was released this week.

Muslim millennials and Generation Z increasingly using digital technologies for place discovery and travel bookings.

The report is the first comprehensive evaluation of the online travel patterns, purchasing behaviors and attitudes of Muslim travelers across different demographic groups. It extends the insights by looking at the larger context of the digital Muslim traveler market in which millennials are a sub-segment. It also offers insights for retailers seeking to market to Muslim travelers.

“With the rapid proliferation of enabling online technologies and payment methods, and the rise of Muslim digital natives as a major segment within the Muslim travel market, the outlook for the digital space is very positive,” said Fazal Bahardeen, Crescent Rating  and Halal Trip CEO.

Muslim Millennial Travelers Are a Big Hit at the Travel Industry, muslim travelers, halal travel, goltune news, modest fashionBy taking into account the online behavior of Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y (Millennials) and Generation Z, the report aims to provide key insights for the travel industry to drive online/offline integration and better cater to today’s omnichannel travelers.

“Destinations need to ensure that their messages reach Muslim travelers through online channels. This report gives the industry a practical and ready segmentation criterion to empathize with different demographics. Digital is real and transcends generations,” Bahardeen said.

With an estimated 131 million Muslim visitor arrivals globally in 2017, the market is projected to continue its fast-paced growth to reach US$300 billion in travel expenditure by 2026. More than 60% of the Muslim travel market are either millennials or Generation Z, according to previous studies conducted by Mastercard Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index 2018.

“The Halal travel market continues to be one of the fastest-growing travel segments globally, with Muslim visitor arrivals representing about 10% of the entire travel industry globally in 2017,” said Devesh Kuwadekar, Mastercard Vice President of Market Development.

“Muslim travelers are spending more time online researching and comparing information before they finally choose and pay for their ideal travel experience,” Kuwdekar said.

Top digitally-enabled Muslim outbound markets

To understand the potential of digital transactions, the DMTR2018 looked at the “digitally enabled” environment of the top 30 Muslim outbound markets representing 90% of overall Muslim visitor arrivals.

Muslim Millennial Travelers Are a Big Hit at the Travel Industry, muslim travelers, halal travel, goltune news, modest fashion (1)

These destinations have been divided into five distinctive clusters based on their market size and digital access:

Cluster A – Large outbound markets with a high level of digital enablement

Countries: Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, United Arab Emirates

These are regions with large Muslim populations with a high per-capita GDP which allows a high percentage of Muslims to travel internationally. The majority of the residents in these countries are digitally savvy and have access to the latest digital infrastructures.

These are the main markets that online travel businesses should focus on, the report noted, as travelers are online shopping natives who are ideally suited for online content marketing and transactions.

Cluster B – Smaller outbound markets with high level of digital enablement 

Muslim Millennial Travelers Are a Big Hit at the Travel Industry, muslim travelers, halal travel, goltune news, modest fashion (1)Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries: Kuwait, Qatar, Lebanon, Tunisia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan

Non-OIC countries: UK, Germany, France, Singapore, Russia

These are countries with residents who are digitally savvy and have access to the latest digital infrastructure, but the population of Muslims in these countries is smaller as compared to those in Cluster A.

Travelers from these markets are already making transactions online. However, the cost of acquisition in the Muslim minority markets will be higher as the targeting needs to be very specific, the report said.

Cluster C – Smaller outbound markets with good level of digital enablement

Countries: Oman, Albania, Morocco, China

These markets have good digital infrastructures but the population of Muslim travelers travelling internationally is still small.

Cluster D – Emerging growth markets with fast-growing levels of digital enablement

Countries: Turkey, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran

These are majority Muslim countries with a growing outbound travel market. Even though they may not have widespread digital infrastructures yet, the travel industry can look at these markets for medium to long term prospects.

Cluster E – Smaller markets with low levels of digital enablement

Countries: Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Nigeria, Algeria, Bangladesh, India

The outbound Muslim travel market of these countries is small, and the levels of digital enablement is currently low.

To be continued. Read the rest of the story tomorrow.

Source: ©The Moodie Davitt Report