Is inflation affecting millennial Muslim travelers in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia?

Rising travel costs owed to inflation are a concern for millenium Muslim travelers across Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, a new report has revealed.

While, 84% Singaporean Muslims are likely to travel internationally in the next 12 months, corresponding to 68.2% Malaysian Muslims and 48.1% Indonesian ones, they would opt for off-peak travel and plan trips around a discount, The Next Phase of Muslim Travel Report, by travel platform, Have Halal, Will Travel (HHWT), states.

Only 9.9%, 11.9% and 26.7% of Singaporean, Malaysian and Indonesian millennial Muslims respectively, would trim their travel budget. 

The report, which was launched earlier this month, delves into the impact of three trends - inflation, sustainability, and generative artificial intelligence (AI), on the millennial Muslim traveler across Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. 

Inflation has also influenced the choice of international destinations for the three markets, with more travelers visiting the region. 

Malaysia leads as the top destination for Singaporean millennial Muslim travelers, followed by Japan, Australia, Indonesia and Thailand. This contrasts with Japan leading as a top destination in the platform's 2022 study, followed by Malaysia, Australia, South Korea and New Zealand.

With regards to emerging technologies, only 15% of Singaporeans expressed confidence in AI's ability to cater to Muslim-specific travel requirements, just shy of 17% Malaysians, against a whopping 73% Indonesians.

Muslim are a formidable consumer force and are expected to spend $189 billion on tourism by 2025, according to the State of Global Islamic Economy Report 2022.