Halal tourism is now becoming a mega trend and is projected to develop in the future. The target of 20 million tourist visits to Indonesia is one of the triggers for the Indonesian Ministry of Tourism to improve halal tourism facilities. Speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the Indonesia Muslim Travel Index 2019 at the Ministry of Tourism Jakarta, Wednesday, February 13, Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said, the number of world Muslim tourists who visited Indonesia in 2018 was 20 percent of all tourists who came to Indonesia. The ministry has also made some assessments on the halal destinations in Indonesia.
“With 14 aspects, smaller aspects, number one is access. ACES stands for access, communication, environment and services. I let you know the trick first if you want to win the competition. The percentage is different. The big one is services (45). We repair the large percentage. From there I may say, 90 percent is not directly related to sharia, all of them are general in nature. So I dare say who can provide the best service, he will win the competition. Only a small percentage of them have sharia,” said Arief Yahya.
The Ministry of Tourism believes that the strength of halal tourism in Indonesia lies in the readiness of the destination to be the destination of visits by global Muslim tourists. Tourism destinations must be able to meet the needs of Muslim tourists while traveling. (VOI/NK/AHM)