Muslim tourists want to travel in halal confidence and style

Above: Crescent Tours introduces Muslim travelers to the availability of ‘halal tourism’

The context:

In 2011, Muslims spent an estimated $126bn on travel and tourism, which accounted for more than 12 per cent of total global outbound tourism according to the World Tourism Organisation. Muslims are increasingly seeking out services tailored to their aspirations to observe an Islamic lifestyle.Muslim travelers are looking for the “halal” label on hotels, restaurants and even airlines when they travel. Fifty per cent of Muslim travellerswould use halal-friendly facilities if they existed and 30 per cent would seek strict Sharia-compliant services.

The concept:

This particular brand, Crescent Tours, offers holidays clearly aimed at Muslim travelers who wish to ensure their holiday is as Islamic as possible. Crescent Tours ties together a specially selected range of hotels as well as travel packages to meet the ‘halal’ aspirations, as well as selecting destinations and the types of holiday that are likely to appeal in particular to Muslim Futurists.

What we liked:

The communications opens a clear unequivocal dialogue with its target consumer: the Muslim Futurist. The text immediately addresses the first step towards purchase of the audience “in accordance with Islamic beliefs”, the absence of which would be a potential block, and the presence of which opens the gate for further discussion. The consumer’s next question will be: can I trust that this is in line with my Islamic beliefs, and this is immediately answered: “Travel with confidence.”

The website clearly explains the USP of the brand: halal tourism, and then proceeds to define it.

Its packages show an understanding of the Muslim traveler mindset: one offering is to pray Juma (the friday prayer) at the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. This appeals to the aspiration to join the wider Muslim community, and connect to the heritage of the Muslim world.

It also understands that this is a young, future-facing segment that enjoys life and what the world has to offer. It covers activities of interest to this target group: heritage of the Muslim world, health, relaxation, and is very strong on privacy, knowing its importance to Muslims, particularly Muslim women. The site  offers images of beautiful ‘romantic’ settings which will appeal to this younger demographic. All images and text offer reassurance of the halal status – but just as importantly, they offer reassurance of the quality of experience. This is crucial because this is a segment that will not accept substandard products just because they bear the title ‘halal’.

Below: further examples of communications by Crescent Tours highlighting destinations, holiday types and packages