Four GCC countries have been listed among the top 10 most popular destinations in the global Muslim travel market, a new study has revealed.

The MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2016, which covers 130 destinations, saw the UAE move up one spot from last year to take the second position behind Malaysia which retained its pole position on the list of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) destinations.

Qatar followed in the fifth position, Saudi Arabia took the sixth spot and Bahrain closed the list of the top 10 OIC destinations.

Bahrain became the biggest mover on the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2016, jumping four spots from last year to claim the 10th position.

Singapore also retained its pole position for the non-OIC destinations, with Thailand, the UK, South Africa and Hong Kong making up the top five.

The UAE had an Index score of 74.7 placing it second in the overall combined list. Malaysia scored 81.9 while Turkey posted 73.9. In comparison, the highest scoring non-OIC destination Singapore scored 68.4 with second place Thailand at 59.5.

The study also revealed that in 2015, there were an estimated 117 million Muslim visitor arrivals globally, representing close to 10 per cent of the entire travel market.

This is forecasted to grow to 168 million visitors by 2020, equal to 11 per cent of the market segment, with a market value projected to exceed $200 billion.

Asia and Europe were also revealed as the two leading regions in the world for attracting Muslim visitors - accounting for 87 percent of the entire market.

The GMTI 2016 is the most comprehensive research available on one of the fastest-growing tourism sectors in the world, which represents 10 per cent of the entire travel economy.

“The MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2016 has now become the number one tool for destinations around the world to realign their strategies to reach out to the Muslim consumer,” said Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating & HalalTrip.

“One of the biggest trends we are seeing is non-OIC destinations making a concerted effort to attract the Muslim tourist and they now represent over 63 percent of the destinations covered in the GMTI. For example, Japan and Philippines have taken some major steps over the last few months to diversify their visitor arrivals and boost their economy in the process,” he said.

The Index helps destinations, travel services and investors to track the health and growth of this travel segment while benchmarking their individual progress in reaching out to this growing market.

All 130 destinations in the GMTI were scored against a backdrop of criteria that included suitability as a family holiday destination, the level of services and facilities it provides, accommodation options, marketing initiatives as well as visitor arrivals.

Each criterion was then weighted to make up the overall index score. This year, two new criteria - air connectivity and visa restrictions - were added to further enhance the Index.

The overall average GMTI score for the complete 130 destinations currently stands at 43.7. From a regional perspective, Asia Pacific destinations lead with an average GMTI score of 56.5. – TradeArabia News Service