JAKARTA: Indonesia is stepping up efforts to promote Muslim-friendly destinations across the country, as tourism officials seek to position the country as the world’s best after recently securing second place in the latest Global Muslim Travel Index.
Indonesia ranked second in this year’s Mastercard-CrescentRating GMTI, an annual report benchmarking destinations in the Muslim travel market, climbing three spots from 2025 and sharing the ranking with Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, as Malaysia retained its long-standing lead.
The Ministry of Tourism “will continue to strengthen the development of Muslim-friendly tourism by improving destination readiness, service quality, accessibility, and strengthening collaboration with industry players to meet the needs of the growing global tourism market,” it said in a statement issued on Saturday.
The index cited Indonesia as “one of the strongest performers” in 2026, and highlighted recent high-tech improvements in its tourism industry that incorporate smart technology as well as artificial intelligence.
Indonesia’s climb to the second spot of the index also serves as “motivation for us to continue innovating, improving service quality, and strengthening collaboration with various global partners,” said Masruroh, senior advisor for digital transformation and tourism innovation at the tourism ministry.
