Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Datuk Mohamaddin Ketapi said halal and Muslim-friendly tourism has a huge potential and can turn into a game-changer in the world tourism industry. He said that the tourism industry should actively develop a Muslim-friendly tourism concept to attract more Muslims tourists to the country.

Malaysia always ranked top in the Mastercard-Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index for nine consecutive years as the world's main halal tourist destination,  still need to make more effort to promote the Muslim-friendly tourism sector and attract tourists.

He said during the launching of International Muslim Friendly Carnival 2019 (IMFC) “It will generate lucrative income and create job opportunities as well as business for locals. The global halal and Muslim-friendly tourism is expected to worth more than US$220 billion (RM915 billion) or almost RM1 trillion by 2020. The sector is growing rapidly every year with more than 165 million Muslims worldwide expected to book their journeys and visit their choice of destination next year,”

The five-day event which is scheduled from 6-10 December will be attended by more than 1,000 government officers and industry players.

Mohamaddin said United Kingdom, South Korea, and Japan aren’t members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are now eagerly developing their services and providing to be more Muslim-friendly including halal restaurants to attract more Muslim tourists.