CAIRO – A new halal travel review and booking site has been launched to serve the far-growing Muslim tourism sector, using an innovative reference tool for Muslims seeking accommodation that adheres to Islamic principles.
“Tripfez fills this void, providing a one-stop-shop for travelers seeking Muslim-friendly hotels and resorts, and also complements the information provided by other travel review and booking portals like TripAdvisor,” Faeez Fadhlillah, a Malaysian entrepreneur, told E Turbo News on Tuesday, April 26.
“Our properties have been hand-picked and include Salam Standard Muslim-friendly accommodation, giving customers peace of mind their trip will meet their faith-based requirements, from halal food to prayer facilities,” he added.
Tripfez, the new travel portal, features a portfolio of 200,000 hotels and resorts globally, more than 20,000 of which have been classified halal-friendly by sister company Salam Standard.
Both Tripfez and Salam Standard are the brainchild of founder & CEO, Fadhlillah.
The Malaysia entrepreneur has identified a gap in the market to provide the world’s 1.7 billion-plus Muslims with halal-friendly travel options online or as he describes it, “the promise of a blessed journey”.
On the global level, Muslim tourists spent more than US$142 billion on travel in 2014, accounting for 11% of total global travel expenditure, according to The State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2015-2016, developed by Thomson Reuters in collaboration with DinarStandard.
“This figure is predicted to rise to $233 billion or 13% of total travel expenditure by 2020. Yet it’s a market that is currently underserved by the travel and hospitality industry,” says Fadhlillah.
A recent study released by Singapore-based halal travel specialist Crescentrating and DinarStandard has expected influx of Muslim holidaymakers over the next decade.
The study, conducted in 47 countries, found that spending by Muslim tourists is growing faster than the global rate and is forecast to reach $192 billion a year by 2020, up from $126 billion in 2011.
Last March, two Muslim cities, Marrakech in Morocco and Istanbul in Turkey, have been named world’s best cities by a trip advisor, after gaining support of tourists worldwide.
Also in 2015, CrescentRating, a Halal travel ratings and accreditation consultancy, released the world’s first-ever halal travel glossary.
The glossary includes over 150 terms and concepts that have been validated, with regular updates planned as the market matures.