ITC RECONNECTS WITH TOURISM PROFESSIONALS IN MIDDLE EAST AND EUROPE TO DRIVE ISLAMIC TOURISM INTEREST

PUTRAJAYA, 10 May 2022: With the reopening of borders following a lengthy travel restriction worldwide, Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) has re-activated its physical engagements with the tourism industry players globally to share insights and experience on Islamic Tourism as the way forward for tourism recovery.

The ITC team is attending the Arabian Travel Market (9-12 May) in Dubai and the Sarajevo Business Forum (11-12 May), and will make a working trip to Turkey (15-19 May) this month with a double mission to position Malaysia as a destination of choice for Muslims as well as to drive interest among global destinations towards the potential of the Muslim tourist market.

Dato’ Dr. Mohmed Razip Haji Hasan, Director-General of ITC said: “Malaysia was recently ranked at the top as a Muslim-Friendly Travel destination, and there are many travel products and experiences in Malaysia, not only for conventional tourists but also for Muslim tourists who wish to travel with peace of mind, without compromising their faith.”

He was referring to the Global Islamic Economy Indicator (GIEI) report released by DinarStandard in April 2022 where Malaysia took the top spot in four out of six areas namely Muslim-Friendly Travel, Halal Food, Media and Recreation, and Islamic Finance.

“Malaysia has many Muslim-friendly tourism products, hotels, and services that provide a great experience and value to tourists. During the pandemic, ITC had continued being active by providing Muslim-Friendly Tour Guide (MFTG) training, developing mosque tourism potential, and encouraging hotels to adopt the ITC Muslim-Friendly Accommodation Recognition (MFAR) certification,” said Dato’ Dr. Mohmed Razip.

He noted that the pandemic had negatively impacted the tourism industry and believed that Islamic Tourism provided a new strategy for tourism recovery.

“We are at the dawn of a new beginning and everyone is excited to reconnect and kickstart their travels again. This is an opportune time for tourism industry players to explore new travel trends and behaviours, particularly the demands and needs of Muslim tourists. Strategising towards Islamic Tourism may present many opportunities for the way forward past the pandemic. It’s still a largely untapped market that’s just beginning to blossom,” he said.

He added that the Muslim tourist market had unique faith-based needs when they travel and that ITC was ready to share its experiences in developing a Muslim-Friendly Tourism and Hospitality ecosystem.

Dato’ Dr. Mohmed Razip will be sharing his thoughts on “The power of tourism to fuel economic growth” as an invited panellist at Sarajevo Business Forum on 12 May in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

He said: “We are prepared to support destinations and industry players who see the value and potential growth of the Muslim tourist market. ITC offers training, research and knowledge, and guidance in standards and certification. We’ve developed the ecosystem for Malaysia and shared our knowledge with other destinations and we are eager to share and support similar goals when we meet our counterparts in Dubai, Sarajevo and Istanbul.”

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Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) is an entity under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia tasked to develop the Islamic tourism segment for Malaysia. It advocates for Muslim-friendly tourism (MFT) by offering research and market intelligence, training, industry development consultation, Muslim-friendly tourism and hospitality (MFTH) service standards and certification, and information exchange.

 In 2021, ITC received two key awards, i.e. Strategic Business Alliance Award at The BrandLaureate World Halal Best Brand E-Branding Awards 2021, and Best Islamic Tourism Leadership Gold Award 2021 by Malaysia Tourism Council. These are recognition of ITC’s efforts and endeavours in formulating new strategies to meet the new normal of the business environment to ensure business continuity and sustainability, notwithstanding its role to develop and grow the Islamic tourism segment in Malaysia.

 In addition, Malaysia was recently named top country in the world in the MFT sector by the State of the Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) Report 2022 by DinarStandard in partnership with Salaam Standard and supported by Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism.

Malaysia also retained the top-ranked destination in the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2021, a position it has defended since the launch of the Index in 2015.

 These recognitions are an added motivation for ITC to continue to strengthen its efforts in being a prime mover and leading institution to ensure Malaysia is at the forefront of MFTH.

 For further details, kindly contact:

Islamic Tourism Centre
(Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia)
Level 13, No. 2 Tower 1, Jalan P5/6,
Precinct 5, 62200 Putrajaya, Malaysia
Tel: 03-8891 7177 or via email itc@mymuslimtrip.com/v2

For media-related matters, contact the Corporate Communications team:
Anis, Manager, +6012 321 9137, anis@mymuslimtrip.com/v2
Nadhirah, Sr. Executive, +6019 356 0530, nadhirah@mymuslimtrip.com/v2
Aina Izzati, Asst. Executive, +6010 266 2535, ainaa@mymuslimtrip.com/v2

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