Let’s start with the basics. What does the term “muslim-friendly” literally mean? Very easy: MFriendly with muslim travellers Or also favorable to muslim travellers. In other words, we are talking about a product or service that satisfies the religious or cultural needs of the Islamic community. The concept has expanded strongly in recent years in parallel with the exponential increase in tourism worldwide.

Millions of Muslims, many of them with high purchasing power, are increasingly traveling throughout the five continents. In 2023, it is estimated that more than 160 million Muslims traveled for tourism outside their territory, according to data provided by the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI). Forecasts for 2028 soar to 230 million. The economic impact of this growing sector amounts to no less than US$220 billion.

We are, therefore, facing an extraordinary phenomenon that requires the tourism industry to be able to adapt if it wants to offer a good service to hundreds of thousands of Muslims eager for new experiences. The priority is to know the basic rules of a muslim friendly service. First, halal food. That is, the food “permitted” by Islamic law. Basically, no products containing pork or pork derivatives (gelatin, fat, etc.) and no alcohol. Second, to provide adequate and quiet spaces for prayer with a distinctive mark of Mecca orientation or quibla.

These are the basic prescriptions, but there are many more. A good tour operator must know them and make the right decisions to ensure that Muslim tourists have the right conditions for a smooth visit. Travelers will appreciate it and will be willing to repeat the destination or recommend it to their contacts.

The booming Islamic tourism prefers mostly inland destinations with a strong historical and cultural component. If, in addition, the architectural and artistic heritage has Islamic connotations, its interest grows proportionally. This is the case of the Iberian Peninsula, whose exceptional Andalusian past offers countless gastronomic, artisan, urban and monumental attractions of the first order.

Market of the Islamic Festival of Mértola

“That’s an advantage because most people who come to Spain are looking for sun and beach tourism,” stresses Bárbara Ruiz-Bejarano, coordinator of the Medinas Network. “And what does this kind of Muslim tourism do?” she wonders. “It de-seasonalizes the tourist load.” In the summer months, it helps to revitalize the rural world, threatened by a worrying process of depopulation, and ensures that the heritage is not abandoned. “Above all, the Andalusi, of which we have thousands of buildings and structures in rural enclaves,” Bejarano points out.

Small towns do not have sufficient budgetary resources to maintain the powerful cultural legacy and urgently need to attract visitors to enhance the value of this enormous heritage treasure. “And muslim-friendly tourism is one of the tools that can be used to improve this situation,” she reasons. “They are not drunk tourists, nor beach tourists,” Ruiz-Bejarano remarked, “and you can move them all over the inland circuit, especially in the countryside”.

This is where projects such as the Medina Network play a crucial role. This platform offers a “tested circuit” with trained tourism companies that have developed products and services suitable for the Muslim traveler. “And the tourist feels confident that this is a destination ready to receive him. This is not done in any old way, but following a strategy,” she says.

The recent initiative promoted by Turespaña, the Medina Network and the IMDEEC to bring to Córdoba four influencers is part of this plan to promote Muslim-friendly tourism. The idea is to implement training courses for small businesses, accommodation, restaurants, artisans, tour guides or any entrepreneur who intends to capture this segment of the travel industry that seeks in the Iberian Peninsula the footprint of the civilization of Al Andalus.

Bárbara Ruiz-Bejarano believes that it is essential to inventory the priceless Andalusi heritage, largely scattered throughout the rural world, and to highlight its traditional economic activity, from an oil mill and a cheese factory to a ceramics workshop. “I’m very interested in telling the case of Mértola, for example,” she explains. “Portugal, unlike Spain, greatly values its Islamic heritage and has no problem with the Reconquista concept,” she says.

It refers to the process of foreignization of the Andalusi legacy driven by the national Catholic ideology that only considers the Christian contribution as Spanish. “It is like Melilla, which celebrates its Berber, Sephardic, Christian or Chinese heritage and recognizes itself in all of them. It is an open and diverse city,” describes the coordinator of Red de Medinas.

For Ruiz-Bejarano, Mértola is an example of inclusive cultural management. “It has a Festival Islámico, which gathers 60,000 visitors every year, and has made serious investments to develop this type of tourism,” she praises. It is not enough just to preserve a “stupendous Andalusian tower” and signpost it appropriately. It is also necessary to generate events and activities that make this fantastic cultural legacy visible.

Thanks to this proactive strategy, the Portuguese city has been able to attract thousands of visitors every year. “Most of them, moreover, are not Muslims,” Bejarano points out. “They are tourists with an interest in Andalusi culture,” he adds. And there, as in the rest of Portugal, you can find a fado concert as well as an Andalusian music show . “Everything is part of its own identity,” sums up Professor Ruiz-Bejarano.

Each location needs an ad hoc strategy. For example, Mudejar Territory which is part of the Andalusi Medina Network, focuses on cultural and heritage tourism around the iconic buildings of more than 50 Aragonese towns, in combination with natural heritage. In the case of Alicante, the cultural routes that will be devoted next year to the vizier Al Azraq include visits to the Andalusi castles that were held by this charismatic character, combined with trekking experiences to learn first-hand about the territory he dominated. In the village of Cútar, in the province of Malaga, they celebrate the Fiesta del Monfí and enhance the value of their interpretation center of the Andalusi medina.í. In October, moreover, they will inaugurate their first halal restaurant.

The objective is to try to develop a selection of activities that are attractive to this type of public and to build well-structured routes and experiences that integrate small businesses that have worked on a muslim-friendly adaptation. In this way, an initial ecosystem is created that is complemented and consolidated over time in an inclusive manner, generating economic opportunities and synergies that will help to raise awareness and protect our Islamic heritage.