The ACES methodology:
Behind every
GMTI score.
ACES is CrescentRating's weighted scoring model for Muslim-friendly destination readiness - Access, Communications, Environment, and Services. It is the methodology that ranks 150 destinations in the Global Muslim Travel Index, and the diagnostic tool destinations use to know precisely where to invest next.
A scoring model,
not a checklist.
Every destination in the Global Muslim Travel Index is scored against the same four pillars, weighted by how much each one actually moves a Muslim traveler's decision to visit, return, and recommend. The weighting is deliberate: Services and Environment carry the majority of the score because they describe the lived experience of a trip, while Access and Communications describe whether that experience is reachable and known.
ACES gives destinations a common, comparable language for readiness - and gives CrescentRating's advisory work a precise map of where an investment in prayer infrastructure, Halal certification, visa policy, or destination marketing will move the needle most.
The foundational DNA
of the GMTI.
ACES evaluates a destination's Muslim-friendliness across four areas - Access, Communications, Environment, and Services. Since its introduction in 2017, it has served as the essential backbone of the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI), ensuring that destinations are assessed against clear, quantifiable standards rather than subjective impressions.
More than 60 data sets, built from 17 years of longitudinal research, feed the current ACES 3.0 model. Each of the four pillars is assessed using quantitative measurements across several criteria, and each criterion score is derived from several underlying subcriteria - giving destinations a precise, comparable readiness score rather than a pass/fail checklist.
Standardizing over 50 quantitative datasets, ACES established the industry's first global baseline for measuring Muslim-friendly destination preparedness.
The framework was updated alongside the introduction of the Halal Travel Development Goals, sharpening how destination readiness was benchmarked.
A third revision added Sustainability to the Environment pillar, reflecting the growing weight Muslim travelers place on environmental and social responsibility.
ACES becomes the infrastructure envelope of CrescentRating's three-part stack, with RIDA layered on top for experience and TRUST for consumer conversion.
The market has
outgrown guesswork.
Muslim travel has moved from a niche consideration to one of the fastest-growing segments in global tourism. A framework this size cannot be managed by impression - it needs a scoring model that tells a destination precisely where it stands, and precisely where to act next.
A market too large to serve on instinct
With Muslim travel expenditure on a path to USD 310 billion by 2030, destinations can no longer treat Muslim-friendly readiness as a side consideration. ACES gives that market a measurable shape - turning "how do we serve Muslim travelers better" into four scored pillars a tourism board can actually act on.
It replaces guesswork with a diagnostic
Before ACES, a destination's Muslim-friendliness was assessed anecdotally - a hotel here, a prayer room there. ACES converts that impression into a weighted score across Access, Communications, Environment, and Services, so investment decisions can be prioritized by what actually moves the needle, not by what is easiest to photograph.
It makes 150 destinations comparable
Every destination ranked in the GMTI is scored on the same ACES criteria, which means a tourism ministry can see exactly how it compares to a competing destination pillar by pillar - not just on a single headline rank.
It is built to move with the market
ACES has been revised twice since 2017 - adding the Halal Travel Development Goals in 2019 and Sustainability in 2022 - because Muslim traveler expectations keep evolving. A static checklist would have gone stale years ago; ACES is designed to be updated as the global Muslim population grows toward a projected 2.57 billion by 2036.
Four dimensions.
One weighted score
per destination.
Access measures the practical friction of getting to a destination: visa requirements, flight and land connectivity to the top Muslim outbound markets, and the transport infrastructure once travelers land. High scores elsewhere in the model mean little if a destination remains difficult to reach.
- Visa Requirements5%
- Connectivity5%
- Transport Infrastructure5%
The Global Muslim
Travel Index 2026.
Every ACES score comes together in the Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index - the definitive annual benchmark of Muslim-friendly travel. The 2026 edition ranks 150 destinations across all four pillars, tracking a market that reached 196 million Muslim international arrivals in 2025 and is projected to hit 262 million by 2030.
Explore the full rankings, regional analysis, and the trends shaping the next decade of Muslim travel.
Explore GMTI 2026
ACES is where the
Destination Activation
Stack starts.
ACES sits at the base of CrescentRating's Destination Activation Stack, the predictive framework that unifies destination infrastructure, traveler experience, and consumer conversion. It supplies the quantitative baseline; RIDA and TRUST build the experience and conversion layers on top of it.
A destination cannot skip ACES to reach RIDA or TRUST. Infrastructure gaps at the base of the stack - a missing prayer facility, an opaque visa process - undermine even the most carefully engineered experience or trust signal above them.
Over 17 years of longitudinal research and 60+ quantitative datasets define destination preparedness across the four ACES pillars. This is the infrastructure envelope every destination must establish before experience or conversion can be engineered on top of it.
The RIDA filter builds on basic ACES infrastructure to engineer highly personalized, emotionally resonant journeys - refining the raw destination readiness score into a differentiated traveler experience.
TRUST is the activation mechanism that eliminates intention-to-booking leakage through clear, unassailable validation signals - converting a well-built destination into a booked, reviewed, and repeated one.
Know exactly
where your score
comes from.
Schedule a consultation and CrescentRating will benchmark your destination against all four pillars, identify which is limiting your GMTI ranking, and brief your tourism board on the investments that move your score fastest.