EUROPE is hosting the first-ever international conference on halal tourism to look at how the industry can capitalise on one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world. The Halal Tourism Conference will bring together the global travel industry to discuss ways of tapping into this niche market.
The event, from September 22 to 23 this year at the Granada Conference and Exhibition Centre, Andalucia, Spain, aims to equip delegates with market intelligence, industry forecasts and trends to understand how to market to the lucrative Muslim consumer and benefit commercially.According to the latest figures, the halal tourism sector was worth $140 billion in 2013 representing around 13 per cent of global travel expenditures. This figure is expected to reach $192 billion by 2020. Organiser Tasneem Mahmood, from CMM, said the conference hopes to have attendance and representation from every region of the world and presents great opportunities.She said: “This is a ground-breaking event for halal tourism, which is directly reacting to current market trends and addressing the needs of the industry. For a country like the UAE, with a deep Islamic heritage and so much to offer, it presents a real opportunity to attract visitors. “Every country and business needs to look at halal tourism because it is growing so rapidly and the Muslim consumer is increasing spend on leisure holidays. “Our research has shown there are so many countries and travel operators who can benefit from halal tourism but are currently missing out. In Europe alone, there so many Muslim travellers for the UAE to target. This conference will show the opportunities that are present and how to grab them.”The two-day event hopes to attract tourism boards, tour agencies, tour operators, restaurants, media, hotels, airlines and suppliers to the travel sector. The event will also feature seminars from industry experts, workshops, networking sessions and an exhibition.This will be followed by a two-day tour of the region of Andalucia to provide businesses with a live case study of a region that is becoming more Muslim friendly and is actively working to meet the needs of Muslim travellers.