The Philippines is accelerating its plans to position itself as one of the world’s preferred destinations for Muslim tourists, according to its tourist board. 

The Philippine Department of Tourism (PDOT) revealed a series of initiatives as part of a major drive to create a long-term infrastructure across the country to diversify its visitor arrivals.

One of the key targets is Muslim visitors, particularly from neighbouring ASEAN region and the Middle East.

It has partnered with Halal travel specialist CrescentRating, to help build capabilities and resources as well as launch a destination marketing campaign to meet its objectives.

The relationship will see the PDOT embark on a series of activities to increase awareness of the availability of Halal food, mosques, and other Muslim-friendly holiday experiences and facilities in the Philippines.

The Muslim travel market is now widely recognised as a key growth tourism sector projected to be worth US $200 billion by 2020.

The MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2015 revealed that in 2014, the Halal tourism market was worth $145 billion with 108 million Muslim travellers representing 10% of the entire travel economy.