Mastercard-CrescentRatingMuslim Business Traveler Insights 2016October 2016By Mastercard & CrescentRatingOctober 2016Muslim Business Traveler Insights20161Table of ContentsMuslim Travel Market Overview Muslim Business Traveler InsightsProleKey reasons and concerns when planing a business tripTrip planning AirportsOnboard the planePerforming prayers onboard the planeAccommodation preferencesDining at the destinationInterviews03050506081011131415171About CrescentRating CrescentRating is the leading authority on Halal travel. The company uses insights, industry intelligence, lifestyle, behavior and research on the needs of the Muslim traveler to deliver authoritative guidance on all aspects of Halal-friendly travel to organizations across the globe.Formed in 2008, CrescentRating services are used by every tier of the tourism industry globally, from government bodies and tourism agencies to hospitality service providers, to inform how they can meet and serve the needs of the Muslim traveler.CrescentRatings services include rating & accreditation, research & consultancy, workshops & training, ranking & indices, destination marketing, event support/partnerships and content provisioning. HalalTrip and Muslim Travel Warehouse are sister companies of CrescentRating Pte. Ltd.About MastercardMastercard is a technology company in the global payments industry. Mastercard operates the worlds fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, nancial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. Mastercards products and solutions make everyday commerce activities - such as shopping, traveling, running a business, and managing nances - easier, more secure, and more ecient for everyone.2Muslim Travel Market Overview Muslim visitor arrivals (in millions) from 1995 to 2020 (projection)The Muslim population is growing rapidly and is expected to reach 26 percent of the worlds population by 2030. This has led to a large increase in the number of Muslims taking up travel for leisure, religious, business and healthcare reasons. According to the latest Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI), there were 117 million international Muslim visitor arrivals in 2015 and this is projected to increase to 168 million by 2020.The key reasons for travel are for leisure, to perform religious obligations and business. The majority of Muslim travel is for leisure (including Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) which accounts for around 75 percent of Muslim travel. Religious travel constitutes around 10 percent and is primarily to perform Hajj and Umrah. Business travel accounts for around 10 percent. Travel for medical or healthcare reasons is less than 1 percent of the Muslim travel market. 25 98 117 168 0204060801001201401601802001995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025Reasons for TravelOther5%Business10%Religions10%Leisure (inluding VFR)75%3With the majority of Muslims representing growing economies such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Turkey and economies in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), business travel is projected to grow rapidly. Availability of business opportunities, especially in developing countries, attracts a large number of business travelers. This segment has also seen growth contributed by the MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Events) sector. Most large travel agents in the GCC countries now have a separate division for MICE.Another key driver for growth in Muslim business travel is the increasing number of Muslim professionals (both males and females) now entering the workforce. This report looks at the travel behavior and patterns of Muslim business travelers. Although their general behavior is not very dierent from other business travelers, travel and hospitality service providers can nd many opportunities to cater to their specic faith-based needs.4Muslim business traveler insights are based on an online survey and interviews conducted with 250 frequent Muslim business travelers. The objective was to understand the behavior and presence of Muslim business travelers in the following areas:Of the 250 respondents, 73 percent were males and 27 percent females. 52 percent of the travelers were C-Level executives or business owners. 80 percent of them have been at their current workplace/employer for more than two years. 60 percent of them have made between 4 to 20 trips in 2015.The travelers were from a wide range of company sizes: from SMEs to large corporations. Figure to the right gives the breakdown of the respondents by the size of the establishment.44 percent of them spent less than USD 2000 per business trip followed by 38 percent spending between USD 2000 and USD 5000.Muslim Business Traveler InsightsProleTrip Planning At the Airport On board the plane Accommodation preferences Dining at the destinatiom 35%: 1 to 10employees28%: 11 to 100employees37%: more than100 employeesThe majority of business trips are three to four days long. A good percentage of business travelers also disclosed that their typical business trip is ve to six days long.69 percent of respondents combined business and leisure travel “sometimes”, while 18 percent always combine business travel with leisure. Length of Business Travel1 to 2 days5%7 days or more20%5 to 6 days34%3 to 4 days41%5Combine international business travel with leisure holidayNever13%Always18%Sometimes69%The main reasons for business travel among Muslims is no dierent from your typical business traveler. The majority of them more than one in two (57 percent) travel to attend conferences or exhibitions. The second and third most common reasons were for meeting clients (45 percent) or potential clients (44 percent). Overwhelmingly, the main concern of business travelers is “safety and security” of the country they are planning to visit. This is followed by concerns of religious tolerance. Key reasons and concerns when planning a business trip57% 45% 44% 29% 28% 22% 12% 10% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%Attend conference or exhibitionMeetings with clientsProspecting for new businessConduct workshopsMeeting suppliersAttend trainingInternal company meetingsOtherReasons for Travel 6Safety and security 74% Religious tolerance 50% Health and environment risks 46% Political stability 44% Connectivity 43% Prices and expenses 38% Reputation of destination 26% Language and cultural barriers 24% Other 10% The majority of business travelers (70 percent) avoid traveling during the Muslim month of fasting (Ramadan). Only one in four business travelers (27 percent) will travel irrespective of whether it is the month of Ramadan or school holidays.Reduced travel during the month of Ramadan0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%Month of RamadanDuring Eid festival daysIndierent (Doesn't matter)School holidaysTraveling during certain times of the year 7Business travelers are increasingly relying on online research when planning their trips (88 percent). The next highest source of information is from family and friends (43 percent).Selected comments from Muslim business travelers Majority nd information online Trip Planning88% 44% 19% 17% 15% 14% 14% 6% 6% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%Other TV and radio Tourism boardsBrochures Travel exhibitions Newspapers and magazinesGuide books Family and friends Online“For Muslim-specic needs, I will run a Google search which will usually bring up blogs by someone who has made a list or review of mosques, Halal restaurants and hotels and prayer rooms for example, in various destinations. My main needs when planning a trip are which hotel to stay at (neighborhood quality, past reviews, quality of breakfast and F&B options nearby), interesting sights to see if I have the time, and I will usually also look out for Halal restaurants or mosques.“I try to minimize the number of apps I use when planning a trip to minimize any stress. My main medium for consolidating trip/booking receipts is still via email, and then I store PDF copies on Dropbox on my phone. It will be amazing if I can tell an app that I'm heading to London, and it generates and emails me a single report/page of information on all the things I need to know and links I can click on to make bookings for hotels, etc.”8