As the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) gets underway, the Visit Maldives Corporation (VMC) has announced that high-level discussions are currently underway to significantly expand the island nation’s halal tourism offerings.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with PSM News on the sidelines of the Middle East’s largest travel fair, VMC’s Managing Director Abdulla Yasir emphasised that tapping deeper into the Islamic tourism sector is a key strategic priority for the archipelago.
Halal tourism—which caters specifically to Muslim travelers by providing guaranteed privacy, strictly halal food and beverages, and services aligned with Islamic principles—is experiencing a surge in demand. Yasir noted that business-to-business (B2B) meetings at the ATM fair have heavily focused on gauging this market demand and mapping out the necessary steps to develop the sector further.
Driven largely by the massive Muslim demographic in the Middle East, the push for halal-certified amenities is a direct response to feedback from regional visitors. However, Yasir stressed that the potential customer base extends far beyond the Middle East. He pointed to large populations in India and Indonesia, as well as a growing demographic of consumers in Western nations who actively embrace a halal lifestyle, creating a truly global market for these specialised services.
"The interest in halal tourism is already there. Our halal tourism offering is an avenue that can be opened up to the entire world... Therefore, a wide range of parties are showing immense interest,” he said.
As a premier venue where global tourism stakeholders converge to forge new partnerships, the ATM fair provides an ideal backdrop for these pivotal talks. VMC remains confident that leveraging the platform to expand halal-friendly initiatives will drive substantial, inclusive growth for the Maldivian tourism economy in the years ahead.