- BY Özgür Töre – FTN News
HalalBooking’s results for the first three quarters of 2019 show that over 75,000 guests have booked through its website, using its unique halal-friendly search functionality to choose hotel and villa accommodation.
The value of its bookings in the same period was $26.5 million. This is an increase of 46% on the same period last year.
Elnur Seyidli, HalalBooking’s CEO said: “These results show that we are on track to reach $30 million in bookings by the year end. We were also delighted to learn that we have gained a place on the annual Sunday Times Virgin Atlantic Fast Track 100 for the second year running, with HalalBooking ranked at No 33. This makes us the company with the fastest-growing sales in the travel sector.”
Ufuk Seçgin, HalalBooking’s Chief Marketing Officer added: “We have achieved these results despite difficult trading conditions in key markets, such as the UK, with continued uncertainty over Brexit and the Thomas Cook collapse, and Germany, with its concerns of recession in Q3. The fact that we have increased our booking volume by 46% so far shows the huge market potential. It is also evidence that customers appreciate the value we add through our unique halal-friendly search functionality. We have more and more repeat customers and our 3-tiered HB Loyalty Club has gained in popularity.”
The ‘State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2019/20’ recently released by DinarStandard highlights the strength of the halal economy worldwide. The report estimates that ‘Muslims spent US$2.2 trillion in 2018 across the food, pharmaceutical and lifestyle sectors that are impacted by faith-inspired needs’. According to the report, spend on Muslim-friendly or halal-friendly travel was $189 billion in 2018, an increase of 6.8% year on year, representing 12% of global travel spend. This is forecast to reach $274 billion in 2024 (based on a 6.4% Cumulative Annual Growth Rate).
HalalBooking’s Chief Operations Officer, Enver Cebi, highlighted product diversification as a key growth driver for the business. He said: “Although Turkey remains our top destination for those seeking halal-friendly beach resorts, the demand for Morocco has seen significant growth in 2019. We have worked closely with hotels in Morocco to help them to develop their halal-friendly offering and destinations such as Marrakech and Agadir are proving to be very popular with our guests. We have also expanded European destinations, such as Spain, Bosnia, London and Paris, increased our offering in long-haul destinations, such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand and launched new exotic destinations such as the Maldives, Mauritius and the Seychelles. Overall, we have increased the variety of accommodation on offer, which includes not only beach resorts but also city, ski and spa hotels.”
