Doha ranked in top 10 shopping destinations for Muslim tourists
The Muslim Travel Shopping Index 2015 (MTSI) is a report that analyzes the shopping trends, preferences and habits of Muslim travelers and the places that they tend to frequent the most to shop.
The report is based on 40 international shopping destinations as per certain criteria.
Compiled by the MasterCard and Crescent Rating, this year’s MTSI report ranked Doha as one of the top ten shopping destinations among Muslim tourists.
Doha has been ranked in the 6th place with an overall score of 59.5%. Whereas, Dubai has bagged the first spot with a score of 79.5%, Manama in Bahrain has landed in the 7th place with a scoring of 59.6% and Riyad with 59.3%.
Commenting on the release of MTSI 2015, Raghu Malhotra, Division President, Middle East and North Africa, MasterCard said, “With 108 million Muslim travellers representing 10 per cent of the entire travel economy in 2014, and forecasted to grow even further to 150 million visitors by 2020, it is evident this segment of the travel market represents a huge opportunity for both public and private sector organizations”.
He also added, “We are very pleased to publish this Index on the travel and shopping patterns of Muslim communities in order for organizations around the world to more effectively target and capture share of this lucrative travel sector.”
Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating & HalalTrip said, “The MTSI is a fascinating insight into the shopping habits of Muslim consumers and will prove to be an invaluable tool to the entire sector. The research looks at two of the most important expenditure components of Muslim travellers which is shopping and dining”.
He further said, “It is a perfect complement to the GMTI2015 which we launched earlier this year and allows us to provide a complete picture of how Muslims spend their money when travelling.”
The full report can be found here
