The following table shows the top 20 destinations in the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2026, ranked by overall score on the ACES framework. Source: CrescentRating, crescentrating.com/insights/gmti
| Global Rank | Destination | Market | GMTI Score (0–100) |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Malaysia | OIC | 83 |
| #2 | Indonesia | OIC | 79 |
| #2 | Saudi Arabia | OIC | 79 |
| #2 | Türkiye | OIC | 79 |
| #5 | Qatar | OIC | 76 |
| #6 | United Arab Emirates (UAE) | OIC | 75 |
| #7 | Bahrain | OIC | 74 |
| #7 | Iran | OIC | 74 |
| #7 | Kuwait | OIC | 74 |
| #10 | Oman | OIC | 73 |
| #10 | Singapore | Non-OIC | 73 |
| #12 | Jordan | OIC | 72 |
| #13 | Egypt | OIC | 71 |
| #14 | Morocco | OIC | 70 |
| #14 | Uzbekistan | OIC | 70 |
| #16 | Brunei | OIC | 68 |
| #17 | Maldives | OIC | 66 |
| #18 | Pakistan | OIC | 65 |
| #18 | Tunisia | OIC | 65 |
| #20 | Hong Kong | Non-OIC | 64 |
Source: Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2026. All figures © CrescentRating. For media citations and licensing: crescentrating.com/contact
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The Intelligence Layer of the Halal Travel Market
11th Edition · Released June 2026
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Source: Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2026 · Data updated June 2026 · Next edition 2027
Malaysia is the #1 Muslim-friendly travel destination in the GMTI 2026, with a score of 83 out of 100.
Indonesia, Türkiye, and Saudi Arabia share the #2 position in the GMTI 2026, each scoring 79.
Singapore is the top non-OIC destination in the GMTI 2026 — ranked #10 globally with a score of 73.
Muslim international arrivals reached 196 million in 2025, an 11.3% increase year-on-year.
Muslim international arrivals are projected to reach 262 million by 2030, driving an estimated USD 310 billion in annual travel expenditure.
The GMTI 2026 evaluates 150 destinations, covering more than 98% of global Muslim arrivals.
The 2026 edition evaluates 150 destinations representing 98%+ of global Muslim arrivals — unifying longitudinal research with predictive trend tracking. The headline shifts:
Malaysia retains its undisputed benchmark position with a higher score of 83. Indonesia re-emerges as a top-tier performer (+3 points) to share the #2 spot at 79 with Türkiye and Saudi Arabia.
Singapore maintains its long-standing non-OIC dominance — #1 non-OIC and #10 globally at 73 — on exceptional safety, multicultural integration and smart-airport infrastructure. Hong Kong rises to #2 non-OIC (64); Taiwan and the UK share #3 (59).
The market broke past historical linear forecasts — 196 million international Muslim arrivals in 2025 (+11.3% YoY), on track to hit 208 million in 2026, and 262 million by 2030 driving an estimated USD 310 billion in annual expenditure.
Fuel-cost volatility, airspace closures and security anxieties have made “proximity risk” a primary booking filter. South-Eastern Asia has overtaken Western Asia as the top corridor for Asian Muslims, while European travellers centralise in Southern Europe (Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
With smartphone usage exceeding an 80% baseline across all travel phases, travellers are delegating destination filtering to intelligent AI systems. Destinations that fail to structure faith-based assets into algorithm-ready touchpoints risk exclusion from automated recommendation loops.
The market can no longer be evaluated as a uniform block. The Muslim Women in Travel (MWIT) segment has surged to 90 million — 48% of all global Muslim arrivals — and the Muslim sports-event travel spend pool is projected to reach USD 21 billion by 2030.
Read the Muslim Women in Travel deep-dive →Source: Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2026.
The global Muslim travel market broke past its historical linear trajectory — accelerating faster than any forecast through the decade ahead.
Source: Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2026.
Search any of the 150 ranked destinations to see its 2026 global rank, GMTI score, and movement since last year.
Click any destination to load it into the comparison explorer.
From national governments to tourism boards — how the GMTI shapes strategy and drives action across 150 destinations.
Quotes drawn from speeches delivered at the Halal in Travel Global Summits and official statements.
Track GMTI scores and rankings from 2015 to 2026, then drill into the ACES pillars. Comparisons are shareable — copy the link.
Drawn from 2015–2026 across 150 destinations, these longitudinal trends reveal the structural forces reshaping the global Muslim travel market.
Asia leads by a significant margin, driven by OIC markets and Non-OIC destinations with advanced Muslim-friendly infrastructure.
The average gap between OIC and Non-OIC destinations has narrowed from 23.6 points in 2015 to 16.3 in 2026 — evidence of accelerating non-OIC investment in Muslim-friendly infrastructure.
The 2021 edition captured the immediate aftermath of global travel disruption. Destinations that maintained or improved their ACES scores through 2021–2022 — particularly on Digital infrastructure and Safety indicators — rebounded significantly faster and gained permanent ranking advantage by 2023.
The 2026 data shows that destinations which digitised their halal-assurance assets between 2022–2024 are now outperforming peers even when their physical infrastructure scores are comparable.
Strategic implication
The window for leveraging digital investment as a differentiator is narrowing — what was a competitive advantage in 2022 is becoming baseline expectation by 2026.
Across all 150 destinations, Communication is consistently the weakest pillar — destinations with excellent physical infrastructure routinely fail to effectively market their Muslim-friendly offer to the global Muslim audience.
Services is the highest-weighted differentiator between tier-1 and tier-2 destinations. The availability of prayer facilities, certified halal dining, and Muslim-friendly accommodation drives both score and consumer intent-to-book most directly.
Source: Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2026, 11 editions (2015–2026). Full longitudinal dataset and methodology available in the report.
An AI-generated audio companion to the GMTI 2026 report. Listen to a concise overview of the findings, or hear two perspectives debate what the data really means.
A concise spoken overview of the GMTI 2026 findings — key rankings, structural shifts, and what they mean for the global Muslim travel market.
Generated by Google NotebookLM from the Mastercard-CrescentRating GMTI 2026 report.
Two AI voices debate the GMTI 2026 data — exploring the tensions between OIC and non-OIC performance, the rise of Southeast Asia, and what destinations must do to compete.
Generated by Google NotebookLM from the Mastercard-CrescentRating GMTI 2026 report.
Audio content is AI-generated from the Mastercard-CrescentRating GMTI 2026 report using Google NotebookLM. It summarises published findings and does not constitute official advisory opinion.
Every destination is scored on the ACES model — four pillars and 17 weighted indicators — producing a single, comparable 0–100 GMTI score benchmarked across 150 destinations.
How easily a Muslim traveller can reach and move through the destination.
How clearly the destination reaches and is understood by the Muslim market.
The enabling conditions — safety, faith-friendliness and sustainability.
The faith-based services that make a trip seamless on the ground.
ACES = Access · Communication · Environment · Services. Sub-indicator weighting follows the Mastercard-CrescentRating GMTI 2026 methodology. Read the full methodology →
The global travel landscape is undergoing a structural metamorphosis — shifting from generic destination preferences toward deep alignment with personal values, cognitive technology and spiritual autonomy. The Destination Activation Stack brings together three strategic models into a single operational roadmap, anchored in 17+ years of proprietary longitudinal research, global consumer surveys and frontline operational experience — validated by academic citation and media resonance.
A nested system — infrastructure on the outside, conversion at the core. A destination earns its way inward: from readiness to resonance to realised demand.
Strategic focus
Baseline destination preparedness & smart travel ecosystem readiness
The foundational backbone of the GMTI. ACES measures how effectively a destination meets the market’s foundational requirements through more than 60 quantitative datasets.
Strategic focus
Qualitative value curation & values-driven travel architecture
Once infrastructure capability is established via ACES, raw destination assets are refined through the RIDA matrix to engineer highly personalised, emotionally resonant travel journeys.
Strategic focus
Eliminating intention-to-booking leakage through verifiable conversion signals
At the absolute centre of the UDAS orbit. Consumer interest converts into realised transactions only when destinations provide clear, unassailable validation across five core parameters.
The GMTI 2026 speaks to destinations, operators and travellers alike. Find the takeaways — and the next step — that fit you.
CrescentRating works with tourism boards and operators to translate the GMTI into a measurable activation roadmap across ACES, RIDA and TRUST.
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Mastercard, & CrescentRating. (2026). Global Muslim Travel Index 2026 (11th ed.). CrescentRating. https://crescentrating.com/insights/gmti
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