LOS ANGELES, Jan 23 — In response to the niche market of religious travel, a community of professionals focusing on faith-based travel has been created to help people plan youth retreats, pilgrimages to religious sites and mission trips.
Billed as a one-stop shop for finding services like transportation, tour operators, lodging, food and beverage specialists, the Faith Travel Association has been developed to help travellers looking to deepen their faith through conferences, mission trips, religious pilgrimages, and youth group excursions.
According to the National Tour Association, which is spearheading the project, each year about 300 million people embark on faith-fuelled trips around the world, pumping US$18 billion (RM60 billion) into the tourism economy.
Meanwhile, HalalTrip.com was launched last year as the ‘TripAdvisor’ of Muslim travel, offering Muslim-friendly properties, tours and flight packages.
Similarly, halalstars.com is a meta-search engine and hotel comparison site partnered with Expedia. — AFP Relaxnews
