The global halal food and lifestyle sector is expected to grow by six percent by 2020, according to findings from the State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2015/2016.

According to the Report, the global Muslim market spent $142 billion on travel in 2014, and is expected to reach $233 billion by 2020.

Halal Travel

Although the halal travel sector is expected to grow by 8.6 per cent by 2020, some investors are still reluctant to invest in Halal-compliant, for fear of revenue loss associated with not serving alcohol.

The most popular destination countries for Muslim tourists are Malaysia, Turkey and the UAE, which is outpacing other countries in terms of hotel development. To meet that growth, new channels are being created, such as HalalBooking.com, a travel search and booking website for travellers.

Halal Food

The halal food sector is expected to grow by 5.8 per cent by 2020, with the demand for ethical treatment of animals alone resulting in a $100 billion organic food market.

Although the principle of treating animals is embodied within halal food, educating Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries about the halal sector and its standards and accreditation continues to be a challenge.

Momentum has been building since last year, the Halal food sector saw South Africa partnering with Malaysia as the Western Cape Fine Food Initiative and the Malaysian Industry Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) signed a co-operation agreementto foster partnerships between the Halal industries of the two countries; further cooperation occurred between South Korea and Abu Dhabi with South Korea gaining additional access to the global Halal market;obstacles were removed as a 10 year old poultry ban for exporting poultry products to countries in the Middle East has been lifted from Pakistan that was imposed after the bird flu epidemic in 2004.