By TTR Weekly
SINGAPORE, 24 October 2019: More Muslim women are booking solo travels, indicative of a growing younger demographic willing to experience the world, according to the latest report released by Mastercard and CrescentRating.
An estimated 28% of all female Muslim journeys were solo travel out of a total 63 million trips that generated over USD80 billion in trip revenue last year.
Two-thirds were 40 years of age or younger, an indication of how much young Muslim women drive this section of the tourism industry. Over half of them use some form of social media to scope out accommodation, logistics and dining.
“Despite the increasingly ubiquitous Muslim women travel market, to date, little research has been done to understand this fast-emerging segment and their specific challenges better,” said CrescentRating & HalalTrip head of marketing, Raudha Zaini.
The study provides the industry with a clear lens to understand their intrinsic and extrinsic travel motivations.
“This includes their unique travel behaviour driven by Triple Es – Explore, Energize and Empathize. Together with interviews with multiple Muslim women travellers of diverse backgrounds and profiles, we trust the report will enable industry stakeholders to better cater to this segment.”
Lifestyle and community values are core to Muslim women’s trips
These women’s disposable income is on the rise, with most of the population setting off on trips two to three times per year.
Leisure takes precedence (90%), followed by religious travel (21%) and business (11%). The study confirms that they exert considerable influence in trip planning regardless of their travel party, but most, i.e. 71%, travel with their families, and therefore prefer family-friendly destinations.
Safety and access to religious amenities take top priority
Female travellers constitute one of the fastest-growing segments within the global travel market and main needs, such as safety and security, match those within the Muslim women demographic.
However, Muslim women travellers also look to integrate religious amenities into their trips with 94% of survey respondents reporting halal dining as a travel priority. Accessible religious facilities with female-only prayer rooms (86%) and single-gender spas and beauty salons (79%) also factor highly into their itineraries.
Social justice, an important part of their faith, also influences their journeys, with 73% seeking eco-friendly travel options abroad.
Download the full report: https://www.crescentrating.com/halal-muslim-travel-market-reports.html.
