KUALA LUMPUR: Bumiputra travel agents should take advantage of an increase in the number of Muslim travellers to woo more tourists to Malaysia and help boost the country’s economy.
This could be done by having the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) help its bumiputra members penetrate the Muslim travel market, said Azri Abdul Razak, chairman of Matta’s 2nd B2B Islamic Halal Tour campaign.
He said this could be done by further developing Muslim-friendly travel packages that should include halal food, accommodation and facilities for prayers.
According to the Global Muslim Travel Index, the number of Muslims crossing borders for leisure or business is expected to reach 156 million next year, up from 131 million in 2017. The Muslim travel market is expected to be worth US$220 billion (RM859 billion) next year.
Azri, who was speaking at the launch of the B2B Islamic Halal Tour here today, said the growth of the halal tourism industry is expected to continue outpacing global economic growth.
He said the objective of the halal tour event was to expose Matta members to new halal markets. “It also offers an opportunity for tour companies to widen their services and make new business contacts,” he added.
“The agents also get to promote their companies, improve their level of service, find new strategies to market their products and build new business connections that will eventually help to boost our halal tourism industry and boost economic growth,” he said.
However, Azri said, travel agents who had initiatives to tap the halal market should not just focus on Muslims travellers since the halal tourism sector is not restricted to Muslims.
“We too have many non-Muslim travelers who have embraced tour packages that include halal activities, food and visits to Muslim countries,” he pointed out.
Matta’s 2nd B2B Islamic Halal Tour event will feature B2B (business-to-business) trading activities, travel agents, transport providers, hotels, theme parks and tour operators from global markets. This will also enable international players to engage with their Malaysian counterparts.
This year, participants have come from Kyrgystan, Slovenia, Tanzania, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei and Indonesia.
