Muslim travellers globally represent a major market opportunity and is increasingly becoming an important segment in the travel, tourism and hospitality industry. Worth as much as $145 billion and expected to grow at around 5% every year, this highly lucrative market is is one the world's most rapidly growing travel markets.

As proven by statistics and figures, it is becoming clearly evident that reaching out the Muslim travel market will unfold a wealth of opportunities and new ventures for the travel industry. However, in order to reach out to this lucrative market, it is important to first gain a thorough understanding of the Muslim traveller and their needs and preferences.

Muslims who travel for both leisure & business pursuits behave very much like any other leisure & business traveller. The only difference is that the vast majority of them do not wish to compromise their own unique set of values and basic needs while travelling. 53% of all Muslim travel is also done with families, often multi-generational.

Though the Muslim community is defined largely by religious belonging, Muslim travellers are fragmented racially, ethnically, culturally and linguistically. To gain a better understanding of a typical Muslim traveller, their requirements have been categorised into “needs” and “wants”. “Needs” are the absolute essentials of every Muslim traveller while “wants” are the preferences that they may have. A large majority of the "needs" of Muslim travellers remain the same but their "wants" are expected to differ.

The primary needs of a Muslim traveller are Halal food and access to prayer facilities – which are required by every Muslim. Other needs include Muslim-friendly accommodation facilities such as water-usage friendly washrooms and fasting facilities during Ramadhan. The difference in "wants" and preferences amongst Muslim travellers is due to the diversity of the Muslim population, in line with different cultures and backgrounds.

The diagram below illustrates the hierarchy of needs for Muslim travellers. For a destination to be considered "Muslim-friendly", it is imperative that the essential needs are available.

CrescentRating offers an extensive suite of workshops, training and accreditation programs that help to better understand and service Muslim travellers. Fore more information, please visit: http://www.crescentrating.com/academy/training.html