(QNO) - In 2023, it is estimated that about 140 million Muslim tourists will travel worldwide. This is considered a potential and large market for tourism in Vietnam as well as the Central region, including Quang Nam.
On June 10, in Da Nang City, Duy Nhat Indochina Travel Co., Ltd. coordinated with the National Tourism Authority of Malaysia in Vietnam, the Islamic Tourism Center (Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism of Malaysia), the Da Nang Department of Tourism and the Da Nang Hotel Association to organize a workshop on “Developing a chain of tourism services for the Muslim market in the Central region”. Nearly 100 travel, accommodation, restaurant businesses, etc. attended the workshop.
Potential customer market
According to the Global Muslim Index report, the number of Muslims traveling around the world has increased rapidly in recent years. If in 2013 there were about 108 million Muslim tourists, by 2019 it had reached 160 million.
After 2 years of being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the recovery rate of the Muslim tourist market has gradually stabilized since 2021. In 2023, it is forecasted that about 140 million Muslim tourists will travel around the world.
In recent years, although Vietnam has welcomed many international Muslim tourists, this market has not really received much attention, especially in terms of providing suitable services.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, along with the tourism recovery process, some localities in the Central region have also begun to implement many connection programs to nearby markets, including countries with large Muslim populations such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, India, etc., opening up opportunities to attract this type of tourist.
Mr. Nguyen Son Thuy - Director of Duy Nhat Dong Duong Tourism Company Limited, Vice President of Quang Nam Tourism Association said that a characteristic of Muslim tourists is the spread. Any destination with an Islamic ecosystem will be spread by word of mouth among Muslim tourists, thereby helping to effectively market the destination.
According to Mr. Thuy, currently, some countries in the region such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have built a very diverse and complete ecosystem for Muslim visitors, attracting many Muslim visitors from around the world to visit and stay.
“Da Nang has a lot of advantages, in addition to flights from Malaysia, Singapore and in the future the Philippines… it also has good service facilities, especially the destination foundation. Now we just need to focus, act quickly, rhythmically and with quality, we can completely welcome Muslim visitors.
The important thing now is how to build a specific ecosystem for this market. In other words, whether we can welcome Muslim customers or not depends on how quickly we act," Mr. Thuy shared.
Service completion
There are about 1.8 billion Muslims in the world, with 255 million in the ASEAN region alone. In the Central region, many direct flights from Malaysia and Singapore to Da Nang have been opened, contributing to the strong growth of the Malaysian and Singaporean tourist market, second only to Thailand in the Southeast Asian region.
At the workshop “Developing a chain of tourism services for the Muslim tourist market in the Central region”, most opinions affirmed that the Muslim tourist market has great potential, however, to welcome this type of tourist, it is necessary to meet mandatory requirements.
Ms. Marina Muhamad - Director of the Islamic Tourism Center (Ministry of Culture, Arts and Tourism Malaysia) acknowledged that Da Nang and Hoi An have many beautiful landscapes, but that is not enough. To attract Muslim tourists, first of all, it is necessary to meet the culinary requirements with Halal-standard restaurants, especially there must be many places for guests to pray, because Muslims pray 5 times a day. Localities must show friendliness and closeness to Muslims, must create a sense of safety and convenience for Muslim guests, especially when it is time for them to pray.
In fact, in recent years, some businesses in Da Nang and Quang Nam have considered welcoming Muslim guests. However, in reality, this goal is not much. According to Mr. Nguyen Duc Quynh - General Director of Furama Hotel, Chairman of Da Nang Tourism Association, Muslim guests account for about 10% of the structure of international visitors to Da Nang each year, mainly from Malaysia and Singapore.
At Furama Hotel, in order to better serve Muslim guests, in recent times, in addition to improving services, the unit has also invited experts to train staff on how to welcome Muslim guests, including finding food suppliers that meet Halal standards and recruiting chefs to cook specialized Muslim dishes. Thereby, helping Furama become one of the few accommodation establishments that can meet all the travel needs of Muslim guests when coming to Da Nang today.
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