which has a Projected $200B Opportunity, Lombok will be Looking to Attract More Muslim Tourists

As a republic with the entire world’s largest Muslim population, Indonesia plans to tap the Islamic tourism market by promoting Lombok, one of the lesser-known island getaways, just a short distance via Bali. According to the West Nusa Tenggara Tourism Promotion Board (BPPD NTB), the Government has only just started out to promote sharia tourism in Lombok. within the near future, of which aims to boost the number of wealthy Middle Eastern visitors; an affluent demographic of people who are likely to bring family members along with spend generously while on holiday.

“Truthfully, sharia tourism in Lombok has not developed much because we just started out [working on of which] This specific year,” says BPPD NTB board member Lalu Hasanuddin in an interview with Indonesia Expat.

Indonesia’s current lack of promotion will be reflected within the number of annual inbound Muslim tourists. Despite housing more than 800,000 mosques, Indonesia will be still trailing far behind Malaysia along with Thailand when of which comes to attracting Muslim vacationers.

Meanwhile, Thailand has been aggressively positioning itself to capture the segment by pushing halal tourism along with launching marketing incentives for Muslim-related agencies. In March, tourism minister Arief Yahya told reporters of which Thailand will be currently attracting 600,000 Muslim tourists every month. Malaysia will be pulling in slightly less at 300,000, while Indonesia will be managing only 150,000 on average.

According to the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index, in 2014 the Muslim travel industry was worth about US$145 billion. 108 million Muslim travellers represented 10 percent of the global travel economy.

of which number will be forecast to grow to 150 million by 2020, creating up 11 percent of the market which has a total expenditure projected to hit US$200 billion.

Muslim tourism will continue to be one of the fastest growing travel sectors within the entire world. In recent years, Indonesia ranked fourth in terms of inbound Muslim tourist arrivals, with 1.7 million in 2013. Malaysia arrived on top with 6.1 million, followed by Thailand with 4.4 million, along with Singapore with 3.9 million. However, of which’s worth noting of which as Indonesia has the largest domestic Muslim population on Earth, these figures do not account for local Muslim citizens who are vacationing within their home country.

Realising the economic potential of Islamic travel, Indonesia’s Tourism Ministry earlier This specific year claimed the Government might beef up its budget to promote tourism in West Nusa Tenggara, the province where Lombok will be situated. of which promised to earmark Rp.11 billion (US$823,363) in 2015, up via Rp.6 billion (US$450,000) in recent years. within the grand scheme of things, these amounts can’t move mountains, nevertheless they might theoretically take care of smaller modifications of which could lead to big impacts. Examples of these may include opening more Muslim-friendly tour agencies along with strategically placing halal restaurants in high-traffic areas.

Lombok, the island with 1,000 mosques by SBA Mueller

“We are targeting two million tourists in 2015, with one million foreign visitors along with one million domestic tourists,” Yahya said in March. According to data via Indonesia’s tourism board, 1.6 million tourists visited the province in 2014, with 30 percent of them coming via overseas.

“Islamic tourism in Lombok will be supported by the fact of which more than 90 percent of the population in Lombok along with West Nusa Tenggara will be also Muslim,” says Taufan Rahmadi, head of the province’s tourism board. “Therefore, the lifestyle of the local people will be suitable for Muslim travellers.”

Rahmadi believes a predominantly Muslim local population will be also a critical element to traveling foreign Muslims to Lombok. According to him, sharia tourism will be not only about pilgrimages or religious activities, nevertheless rather, of which will be defined as travel of which fully complies with Islamic law. This specific includes, nevertheless may not be limited to, the provision of food along with beverages of which contain no pork or alcohol, the separation of men along with women at tourist recreational areas such as swimming pools along with spas, along with the availability of water sprays or jet washers in toilets.

In Lombok, Muslims can more easily find halal restaurants than they can in Hindu-majority Bali. Additionally, as Lombok will be sometimes referred to as “the island of 1,000 mosques,” Hasanuddin claims of which will be also easier for Muslims to find places to worship each day.

“We also have 11 hotels of which have been certified halal. Currently, three more hotels are in development. Therefore, we will have a total of 14 sharia hotels in near future,” says Lalu.

Sharia hotels provide Muslim necessities like halal food, the kiblat sign (direction to Mecca), Qurans, prayer rugs, along with prayer time reminders. They also prohibit adult TV channels within the rooms.

Currently, there are 37 certified halal hotels across Indonesia, with 150 still pending approval. As for restaurants, only 303 out of 2,916 have been certified as halal; as many as 1,800 restaurants are still pending halal certification.

The availability of facilities of which comply with Islamic law can also be found at some other sharia tourism destinations in Indonesia. The Government has declared of which nine areas in Indonesia are “officially Muslim-friendly,” including West Sumatra, Riau, Lampung, Jakarta, Banten, West Java, East Java, Lombok, along with Makassar.

Photo by AMISOM Public Information

nevertheless there are some distinct selling points of which help Lombok stand out via some other sharia tourism destinations within the archipelago. “First, we have breathtaking nature,” says Rahmadi. “Second, we have an Islamic culture of which will be not only religious, nevertheless also more tolerant.” Rahmadi adds of which Lombok will be more accepting of foreigners when compared to some other local Islamic tourism destinations like Aceh.

Aceh will be the only part of the country where Muslim along with non-Muslims are forced to follow sharia, the Islamic legal code. Lombok, on the some other hand, despite being majority-Muslim, will be characterised by its foreigner-friendly practices. of which’s not uncommon to see western tourists enjoying the beach in Senggigi while wearing revealing bathing suits.

“some other than Muslims, we also have Hindunese along with people via some other religions along with we live together in harmony. The people of West Nusa Tenggara are open yet still religious,” explains Rahmadi. “We also educate people to be more friendly to tourists. We make public service announcements for people to uphold honesty along with friendliness. These are our marketing tools to make Muslim tourists along with others feel more comfortable along with safe.”

With an open Muslim society, Hasanuddin says western tourists who want to sunbathe in revealing outfits along with relax on the beach which has a beer should not have to worry. “The existence of sharia tourism will not kill conventional tourism. On the contrary, of which will be the locomotive [to attract a robust tourist trade],” explains Hasanuddin. “Most of the complaints actually come via the conventional tourism industry. Some of these people think of which the existence of sharia tourism will erode conventional tourism. nevertheless there will be already a clear distinction between the two.”

Hasanuddin cites the island of Gili Trawangan off the west coast of Lombok as a prime example of a westernised vacation area of which will also not be affected by sharia tourism.

Assuming the central government maintains support along with funding, the province’s tourism promotion board says of which has more plans for the future to attract Muslims to Lombok.

“For example, there will be special tour guides for sharia tourism. We also push travel agents to offer sharia tours. At the moment, some travel agents already do of which by combining visits to beaches with visits to pesantren [Islamic boarding schools] to learn how to recite the Quran,” says Hasanuddin.