As more Muslims travel during Ramadan, more destinations will see the impact of this large travel group in the coming years. Key points driving the increase of travel include the desire to celebrate Ramadan or Eid with family or the desire to experience Ramadan in a different environment, pilgrimages to perform Umrah, business, different fasting durations around the world and extreme weather conditions. Ramadan is scheduled to fall from June to February through 2030, meaning new destinations have the opportunity to attract Muslim travellers during these months. According to a new study produced by MasterCard and CresentRating, the prime destinations are most likely based on uncontrollable aspects such as daytime temperature and fasting duration. The study ranked destinations also according to important attributes such as safety, family-friendliness, access to prayer spaces and appropriate airport services and dining options, among others. Through 2020, Malaysia is forecasted as the No. 1 ranked Asian destination, thanks to both its climate and its current marketing strategies used to attract Muslim tourists. Following close behind are Indonesia and Singapore. The study also shows Middle Eastern countries will later become popular for travelling Muslims during Ramadan, as the holiday will take place during cooler seasons from 2023 forward. The top Middle Eastern destination is the United Arab Emirates, followed by Qatar and Saudi Arabia. If current trends continue, it’s expected visitors to non-Islamic and Southeast Asian countries will drop after 2030. A total of 50 destinations were compared to compile the list of rankings. “Ramadan travel has been largely ignored by the industry despite the growing trend in the last few years. However, the report has revealed some very interesting insights especially for countries in the Asia Pacific and Middle East,” said Fazal Bahardeen, CEO, CresentRating. “As one of the fastest growing tourism sectors in the world, the Muslim travel market brings tremendous opportunities. An increasing number of governments are boosting their efforts to attract more Muslim visitors to their countries.” Currently, Muslims represent 10 per cent of the entire global travel market, a number only expected to grow until the Muslim travel market value exceeds US200 billion in 2020.