According to Mastercard data, the number of potential Muslim travelers will increase significantly, reaching 230 million people by 2028, or in another 4 years, and these travelers are spread across destinations worldwide. Mastercard has therefore developed the GMTI (Global Muslim Travel Index) as an indicator and scoring system for countries that have made good progress in accommodating Muslim travelers, in order to encourage more travelers to visit those areas and to enjoy convenience in religious and cultural activities, such as halal food and prayer facilities.
For Thailand, tourist numbers in the first quarter of 2024 increased from 8 million to 12 million people, which is considered a very significant increase (of this number, 2.2 million were Muslim travelers). Thailand has been ranked by Mastercard as a country with strong potential to attract many more Muslim customers from around the world. Even though over the past three years our ranking has fallen each year, from 2nd place down to 5th place among Non-OIC countries, this is not because we have become worse, but because neighboring countries such as Taiwan and Hong Kong have performed better, and other countries such as Spain and Japan are catching up closely as well. Many countries are rushing to develop infrastructure to accommodate this market, showing how much importance is now being placed on the Muslim tourism market.
However, the needs of Muslim customers according to the indicators in the GMTI are quite specific — for example, the need for prayer rooms, halal kitchens, or halal accommodation, and so on. Meanwhile, in Thailand there are relatively few operators who have knowledge and understanding of the Islamic way of life and culture, and operators still have a number of concerns, including adapting, cultural changes that may affect organizational management, and possibly losing their existing market — for example, converting a hotel to halal may cause an operator to lose its existing customer base who drink alcohol — while entering a new market with no guarantee of success. This concern means operators have no clear plan for serving this customer group or for developing in line with the GMTI.
Even though the Muslim market is a market with strong potential, focusing on a single segment alone may not suit the context of Thailand, where Muslim operators are a minority, and where Thailand itself has historically been a destination for many cultures and religions. On this point, Khun Yaoharee Laetee, Director of the entrepreneurs’ group developing Islamic weddings in a multicultural setting, the Multicultural Islamic Wedding Entrepreneurs Group (MIWEG), shared further that
“Segmenting the market is important, as it helps us understand specific customer groups more deeply. Operators still need to devote time to understanding what Muslim customers who may become their customers actually need. At the same time, if there is concern about adapting, and the cost of change is high and uncertain, one can pick out parts that can be developed jointly and that will also benefit other customer groups. For example, in the 2024 GMTI, importance is placed on Muslim women travelers, whose numbers are increasing and who play a greater role in decision-making. These Muslim women travelers have needs similar to women travelers in general — namely, safety and privacy — which carry a very high weight in the scoring. If operators, or Thailand as a whole, focus on these matters first, this will meet the needs of this customer group and other groups at the same time, without needing to change the organization in any way.”
In addition, Khun Yaoharee Laetee also spoke further on the matter of cultural diversity, saying
“Thailand is a country that is open to cultural diversity. What we should strive to achieve is developing the country in a way that embraces religious and cultural diversity — letting people who want to visit a temple to pray be able to visit a temple and pray, letting people who want to eat halal food be able to eat it, letting people who want to eat crispy pork be able to eat crispy pork, letting people who want to pray be able to pray. For example, Muslims like to visit the Temple of the Emerald Buddha to learn about the culture and Buddhism, and to learn the teachings of Buddhism — if there is a prayer room not too far away, and halal restaurants that are accessible, we will gain more of this market. At the same time, we can bring non-Muslims to visit mosques with a long history in international political history, such as Haroon Mosque, which is the burial site of Thai Muslim soldiers who fought in the Korean War, for example — a site which representatives from Korea still visit every year to pay their respects.”
Multicultural Travel Destination is a concept that private organizations are jointly developing to bring about in Thailand. However, for this concept to be realized, it is necessary to create an atmosphere of not judging one another, showing mutual respect, and learning about one another’s way of life, along with operators learning about other cultures, including the Islamic way of life and religion. This is one of the recommendations in the GMTI report, which identifies it as a top priority for Thailand as well. Taking care of Muslim customers is only the first step toward becoming a Multicultural Travel Destination.
Khun Yaoharee closed with further remarks on the topic of Multicultural Travel Destination, saying
“Operators are the ones who facilitate the experience for customers. Having Cultural Sensitivity is important — for example, not judging customers, showing mutual respect, within an atmosphere that is a safe space and one that allows for cultural negotiation. At the same time, one must always maintain sincerity. When it comes to matters of religion and culture, sincerity cannot be lacking. The moment we are not sincere, it is like giving non-vegetarian food to someone eating a vegetarian diet — we will lose their trust forever. Nothing is too small when it comes to cultural matters; if it matters to them, it must matter to us. We must always be mindful that they trust us enough to spend their time with us — from front-line staff all the way up to management, everyone must understand this in the same way.”
Tourism is one of Thailand’s main sources of income, and these ideas
will increase Thailand’s potential, and can begin to take shape if everyone moves forward together.
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