Recent Development on Halal Tourism: Evidence From Global Muslim Travel Index

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the development of global religious tourism based on the results of the latest report from the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) in 2024. The GMTI is a strategic index designed to assess the readiness of a tourist destination to attract Muslim tourists, both from Muslim-majority and non-Muslim countries. The index reflects the destination’s commitment to providing services that align with Muslim needs and values, as well as offering a safe, comfortable, and Islamic principles travel experience. GMTI also plays a role in mapping out new opportunities in the halal tourism sector, which has great potential to continue to grow in the future. The results of the assessment from the GMTI study show that Malaysia has consistently been the main reference in global religious tourism. Recently, Indonesia has also emerged as the first ranking in the GMT qualifiers. Surprisingly, it turns out that Saudi Arabia, which is the main reference for Muslim worship, is still in third place. These results show that the potential for religious tourism in Malaysia and Indonesia is still very high.