(Ecofin Agency) - Morocco is the country that is best suited for Muslim tourists visiting Africa, according to the 2017 Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) released on May 3, by CrescentRating and U.S. payment solution provider MasterCard.

With a score of 68.1 over 100, the Cherifian Kingdom comes at the 7th position in the ranking which lists 130 countries.

For a country to be regarded as Muslim friendly, three main criteria are considered: safety and quality of holidays for tourists coming with their family ; quality of halal services and how the tourists are received upon arrival (ease of access to places of prayer, accommodation and restauration options, etc.) ; as well as communication and marketing related to halal tourism.

Egypt (14th in the ranking) comes second in Africa, ahead of Tunisia, Algeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Djibouti and the Comoros. Gambia is 10th in Africa.

(See Top 30 halal tourism destination in Africa down)

Over the 130 countries studied, Malaysia comes first, followed by the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

According to GMTI 2017, halal tourism should rapidly develop in the years to come. This is sustained by the number of Muslim tourists which soared from 117 million in 2015 to 121 million last year. This figure is expected to rise further, exceeding 156 million by 2020.

Halal tourism which generated $155 billion in 2016 should generate $220 billion by 2020, and $300 billion by 2026.

Top 30 preferred touristic destinations for Muslims in Africa:

1-Morocco (score: 68.1 points)

2-Egypt (64.1 points)

3-Tunisia (61.1 points)

4-Algeria (59.4 points)

5-Senegal (54.5 points)

6-South Africa (53.6 points)

7-Sudan (49.2 points)

8-Djibouti (48.5 points)

9-Comoros (45.7 points)

10-Gambia (45.1 points)

11-Somalia (44.9 points)

12-Sierra Leone (44.7 points)

13-Tanzania (44.3 points)

14-Guinea (42.1 points)

15-Mauritius (41.6 points)

16-Mali (41.6 points)

17-Nigeria (41.2 points)

18-Niger (39.1 points)

19-Côte d’Ivoire (38.9 points)

20-Kenya (38.4 points)

21-Cameroon (38.3 points)

22-Guinea-Bissau (37.7 points)

23-Mozambique (37.1 points)

24-Gabon (36.6 points)

25-Togo (36.6 points)

26-Benin (34.9 points)

27-Uganda (33.3 points)

28-Chad (31.3 points)

29-Swaziland (31 points)

30-Zimbabwe (30.8 points)