TRAVEL MONITOR
Profiling a boon for 'Muslim-Friendly' countries
In yet another sign of polarisation in travel and tourism along geopolitical fault-lines, a Malaysian minister has warned that growing Islamophobia is resulting in countries being categorised on the basis of their perceived "friendliness" towards Muslim travellers.
Harsh restrictive measures through more stringent visa and immigration checks have harassed and inconvenienced bona-fide outbound travellers and tourists, particularly from the Muslim countries, said Senator Maj-Gen (R) Jamil Khir Bin Baharom, a minister in the Prime Minister's Department.
"As a result of this surge of Islamophobia in some of the Western nations, it has led to a distinct trend towards an increased outbound inter-regional travel to 'Islam- or halal-friendly' countries from the Middle East region apart from the increased intraregional travel," he said at the first Islamic Tourism Conference and Travel Mart in Kuala Lumpur last week.
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About the author
- Writer: Imtiaz Muqbil
- Position: Executive editor of Travel Impact Newswire
