Taiwan ranked No. 33 this year among international travel destinations popular with Muslim tourists, the annual Mastercard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index showed.
When compared with nations that are not members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Taiwan ranked No. 7, up from No. 10 last year.
The credit card company said that the index evaluates 130 international travel destinations and the average score is 43.7. The average score in the Asia-Pacific region is 56.5. Taiwan was given a score of 50.1.
Malaysia was ranked the most popular travel destination for Muslim tourists among the OIC members, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia and Qatar.
Singapore was the first choice among nations that are not part of the OIC. Thailand, Britain, South Africa and Hong Kong were ranked joint third.
Taiwan was rated No. 1 and No. 3 in terms of safe travel environment and airport facilities respectively among non-OIC nations.
In terms of meeting the needs of Muslim travelers, Taiwan’s score rose from 42 last year to 56.3 this year.
The nation’s accommodation option score also jumped from 31.7 last year to 43.6 this year.
The company attributed the nation’s rise in the rankings to increased access to prayer rooms and Halal or Muslim-friendly restaurants, as well as the availability of Muslim-friendly travel routes.
It is estimated that the total number of Muslim visitors globally is to increase from last year’s 117 million to 168 million by 2020.
The company said that all the destinations rated by the index were scored based on several criteria, including suitability as a family holiday destination, the level of services and facilities provided, accommodation options, marketing initiatives and visitor arrivals.
To evaluate destinations this year, the company said that it also took into account the nation’s air traffic accessibility and restrictions on visa applications.
Each criterion was then weighted to make up the overall index, it added.
The brilliant blue waters, thick foliage and bucolic atmosphere on this seemingly idyllic archipelago deep in the Pacific Ocean belie the key role it now plays in a titanic geopolitical struggle. Palau is again on the front line as China, and the US and its allies prepare their forces in an intensifying contest for control over the Asia-Pacific region. The democratic nation of just 17,000 people hosts US-controlled airstrips and soon-to-be-completed radar installations that the US military describes as “critical” to monitoring vast swathes of water and airspace. It is also a key piece of the second island chain, a string of
A magnitude 5.9 earthquake that struck about 33km off the coast of Hualien City was the "main shock" in a series of quakes in the area, with aftershocks expected over the next three days, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Prior to the magnitude 5.9 quake shaking most of Taiwan at 6:53pm yesterday, six other earthquakes stronger than a magnitude of 4, starting with a magnitude 5.5 quake at 6:09pm, occurred in the area. CWA Seismological Center Director Wu Chien-fu (吳健富) confirmed that the quakes were all part of the same series and that the magnitude 5.5 temblor was
Taiwan will now have four additional national holidays after the Legislative Yuan passed an amendment today, which also made Labor Day a national holiday for all sectors. The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) used their majority in the Legislative Yuan to pass the amendment to the Act on Implementing Memorial Days and State Holidays (紀念日及節日實施辦法), which the parties jointly proposed, in its third and final reading today. The legislature passed the bill to amend the act, which is currently enforced administratively, raising it to the legal level. The new legislation recognizes Confucius’ birthday on Sept. 28, the
The Central Weather Administration has issued a heat alert for southeastern Taiwan, warning of temperatures as high as 36°C today, while alerting some coastal areas of strong winds later in the day. Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門) and Pingtung County’s Neipu Township (內埔) are under an orange heat alert, which warns of temperatures as high as 36°C for three consecutive days, the CWA said, citing southwest winds. The heat would also extend to Tainan’s Nansi (楠西) and Yujing (玉井) districts, as well as Pingtung’s Gaoshu (高樹), Yanpu (鹽埔) and Majia (瑪家) townships, it said, forecasting highs of up to 36°C in those areas
RSS