Indonesia Top World’s Halal Tourist Destination

Jakarta, MINA – Indonesia finally managed to rank first of the most popular halal tourist destination in the world this year. This was stated in the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) conducted by Mastercard-CrescentRating.

Indonesia is not the only one country that ranked first, but also Malaysia. Since last year, Malaysia is already ranked number one, while Indonesia is ranked second.

Indonesian Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said Indonesia’s efforts to occupy the first position were indeed planned and targeted by the government this year. He claimed that the access and culture of tourism in Indonesia is not inferior to Malaysia.

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“Indonesia’s access has grown fast, in terms of communication as well. Then Indonesia also has various attractions,” Arief said, Tuesday.

Based on the records, there are 1,260 attractions from various cultures. Then, hundreds of natural attractions are friendly to Muslims and thousands of heritage sites.

“So, there are no weaknesses in Indonesia, no weaknesses, nobody knows,” he added.

Moreover, he claims Indonesia is more prepared than Malaysia as a halal destination because it has an Indonesian Muslim Travel Index (IMTI). One program made by the government to show the ranking of destinations in Indonesia that are friendly to Muslim tourists.

“Lombok is the first in IMTI, the best halal tourism in 2019,” said Arief.

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On the same occasion, CrescentRating and HalalTrip CEO, Fazal Bahardeen said Indonesian achievement in the first rank this year could not be separated from the government’s efforts to disburse investment in the tourism sector through infrastructure development in various regions.

“After being in the second level, now number one along with Malaysia with a score of 78,” he explained.

Meanwhile, other countries included in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), such as Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Oman and Brunei Darussalam are also included in the top 10 most popular halal tourism. Bahardeen said that these countries offer eco-friendly destinations for millennial Muslim tourists. (T/Sj/R04)

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Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)