Abu Dhabi: Abu Dhabi’s hotels and tour operators are expected to promote Halal tourism, with industry experts urging them to take advantage of the emirate’s targets to become a hub in the Halal sector.
Speaking at Abu Dhabi’s first Halal tourism workshop, industry officials said they expected the emirate to take advantage of a projected boom in halal tourism visitors.
“Our ambition is to become a leader in the global Halal tourism market and gain a greater share of the global market, which is estimated to be worth $140 billion, rising to $192 billion by 2020,” said Sultan Al Dhaheri, acting executive director of tourism at Abu Dhabi’s Tourism and Culture Authority (TCA).
He added that it was important to find new source markets, encourage demand, and add new marketing ideas — all of which will help attract Muslim visitors from Europe, and other countries outside the Middle East and North Africa.
Halal tourism accounts for 10 per cent of global tourism revenue, with an estimate worth of $14.7 billion (Dh54 billion), according to the United National World Tourism Organisation.
Abu Dhabi is set to host the first World Halal Travel Summit and Exhibition in October.
