Malaysia is the topranked country in the Muslim-Friendly Travel ( MFT ) sector , plus named as the best country in four out of six sectors in the State of the Global Islamic Economy ( SGIE ) Report 2020 / 21 , said Tourism , Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri . Way to go , Malaysia ! According to the report issued by the international strategy research and advisory firm DinarStandard recently , Malaysia also emerged top in the Halal Food , Islamic Finance , and Pharmaceutical & Cosmetics sectors , she said . She added Malaysia was ranked second and fourth in the Media & Recreation and Modest Fashion sectors respectively .
“ Realising the huge potential of Islamic tourism under the concept of MFT , Malaysia through MOTAC ( Ministry of Tourism , Arts and Culture ) and its agency ITC ( Islamic Tourism Centre ) will continue to increase efforts to gain more market share through infrastructure and facilities , training , capacity building , and standards and certification as well as promotion by the tourism promotion boards ,” she said , as reported by The Malaysian Reserve .
In the MFT category , the Malaysian government ranked highest in two out of four benchmark dimensions , namely in governance which refers to regulations related to the tourism industry and awareness in terms of media coverage and stakeholder training .
Nancy said MOTAC and ITC had focused on stakeholder training during the downtime generated from the Covid-19 pandemic ,
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Sky bridge at Langkawi island . |
which was highlighted in the SGIE report .
“ ITC offered a series of free online Muslim-friendly tourism-related training sessions during the crisis , covering topics such as halal certification , the needs of the Muslim travellers , and Islamic branding and marketing ,” she said .
In the other two benchmark dimensions , Malaysia was placed second in Financial Support for inbound tourism spend and third in Social Dimension , which refers to the sector ’ s impact on employment .
In the Muslim-Friendly Travel sector , 200.3 million Muslim travellers contributed US $ 194 billion ( RM790 billion ) in travel spend in 2019 , attesting to its enormous potential . However , the Covid-19 pandemic has crippled growth in this sector , which is only expected to recover to pre-pandemic levels by 2023 .
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In recent years , Taiwan ’ s Muslim-friendly environment has been highly recognized internationally . Pingtung , with its higher temperature and even more friendly people , also looks forward to becoming the top travel destination for the 1.8 billion Muslims around the world .
The Pingtung County Government actively assists in the certification of the Muslim Friendly Environment ( MFE ). Up until this Nov 7 , 2020 , businesses including bed-and-breakfasts and souvenir shops have received the MFE certificate .
With approximately 1.8 billion Muslims around the world , there are certainly great business opportunities in the tourism market .
Recently , Kenting Amanda Hotel — Essaouira Restaurant , Kenting Holiday Resort Hotel , Kenting Maldives Hot Spring Hotel and Fuwan Chocolate have obtained the certificate .
The 7 new businesses in Pingtung with the MFE certificate are as follows : Summerland Garden Resort , Top Tai Kenting , Kenting Comic B & B , The Light Hostel , Love Ocean B & B , Fu Baoz handmade buns and baos , and Hwajen Traditional Confectionary . And a total of 5 souvenirs from two stores have passed the halal certification : Hwajen handmade cookies ( peanut , pumpkin seed , black bean and sesame flavors ) and Mango- Lu ( dried mango ).
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