Halal online travel booking sites gaining investor confidence in high-growth Muslim tourism market

A number of dedicated Muslim-friendly online travel booking platforms have emerged in the past few years that have won serious seed and Series A funding from investors attracted to the high-growth Muslim tourism market. What opportunities are there for other players to provide Muslim-friendly travel booking services in this growth sector?

WORLD MARKET

Online travel booking platforms are rapidly growing as they offer consumers competitive pricing options and rates for transportation and accommodation bookings. The leading online travel platforms globally have been in the market for around 20 years and are based in the United States. They include the Priceline Group, Expedia Inc., and TripAdvisor Inc.

Overall, the global market for digital travel sales was $533 billion in 2015 and this is expected to grow by a CAGR of 9.4 percent to reach $762 billion in 2020, according to eMarketer. As a sub-sector, online travel platform sales were $246 billion in 2015 and its CAGR is a higher 12 percent to potentially reach $434 billion in 2020, estimates Euromonitor International. The biggest and fastest growing markets are North America, worth $83 billion, and the Asia Pacific, worth $79 billion.  

HALAL MARKET GAINING INVESTOR CONFIDENCE

Dedicated Muslim-friendly online travel booking platforms are very new relative to their conventional peers. The first-mover is HalalBooking.com, which launched in 2009.

The sector has experienced growth in recent years driven by the increasing demands of Muslim travelers for halal products and services, and the upward trend of global Muslim travel. Overall, the global Muslim outbound travel market is estimated to be $151 billion in 2015 (ex-haj and umrah) and this is projected to grow by 8.2 percent CAGR to reach $243 billion in 2021.

The growth of this market and the increasing familiarity with online booking sites in Muslim-majority countries have spurred a handful of dedicated sites that offer halal and Muslim-friendly products and services such as tourism accommodation, tour packages, peer rentals, and experiences. Muslim-friendly tourism products and services are expected to point to halal food, family-friendly entertainment, prayer spaces, alcohol-free premises, and gender-specific facilities such as pools, beaches, and spas.

The size of seed and Series A funding already won by some of these dedicated sites point to a high level of investor confidence in the market as a growth sector. 

Dedicated Muslim-friendly online travel booking platforms include: 

HalalBooking.com, founded in 2009, is a UK-based online travel booking platform that raised over $500,000 million in Series A funding in 2015. The site has over 200 listed hotels, resorts, and villas and is the most well-established website for Muslim-friendly online travel bookings. The company, which was valued at $30 million in 2015, is eyeing to launch a $1 billion IPO by 2018. It primarily focuses on accommodation reservations.

Irhal, founded in 2010 in the United Arab Emirates, is a planning and travel booking platform offered in English and Arabic that focuses on travelers in the Middle Eastern region planning to travel in over 90 cities globally. Irhal also offers travel-related content and city guides in the form of articles, news, and books. The platform also offers services to book tour packages, airlines and accommodation.

Tripfez, founded in 2013 by Malaysia-based Lagisatu, is an online travel booking platform that raised $750,000 in seed funding from three investors in 2016. Tripfez currently features over 200,000 properties worldwide, according to the company. Tripfez offers accommodation reservations and allows users to provide travel ratings and review capabilities.

HalalTrip, founded in 2014 in Singapore, is a sister brand of CrescentRating and offers travel-related content and booking services to over 65 countries. The platform provides city guides, tour packages and accommodation reservations based on the pioneering CrescentRating system.

Bookhalalhomes, founded in 2015 in the United Kingdom, is a peer-to-peer rental platform for Muslim travelers and has 42 Muslim-friendly properties listed on the site as of this writing.

OPPORTUNITIES

Dedicated Muslim-friendly online travel booking platforms have emerged with significant opportunities to address the Muslim spend market potential. There are several considerations to bear in mind while addressing these opportunities.

Acquire inventory across Muslim-friendly tourism products and services, including Muslim-friendly tours

Muslim-friendly travel booking platforms have the opportunity to build a large inventory and selection of accommodation, transportation, and tourism-related activities from select vendors and operators. There is still a large market entry opportunity for a travel booking site to aggregate Muslim-friendly tours online and to explore high growth segments.

Ufuk Seçgin, Marketing Manager at Halalbooking, told Salaam Gateway that identifying Muslim-friendly beach resorts is a key growth area for the business.  “Our [beach resort] sales in 2015 tripled compared to 2014. Several new beach resorts such as Selge Beach, Adin Beach, and Wome Deluxe as well as a few others have opened this year in Antalya, Turkey, alone,” he said.

Analyze customer data to develop tailored marketing

Muslim-friendly travel booking platforms can offer promotions to recurring customers and generate marketing opportunities by capturing data and building a loyal customer base. Using data and marketing analytics, platforms can map out market opportunities and engage with potential customers.

Engage Non-Muslims

By alienating non-Muslims, Muslim-friendly booking platforms may face challenges in Muslim-minority countries. As a result, it is important to develop a brand that can be recognized by both Muslims and non-Muslims.

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