On 18 June in Singapore, Mastercard and CrescentRating stood up in front of the global travel industry and announced something Indonesian tourism officials have been working toward for years: Indonesia is now the second-best Muslim-friendly travel destination on the planet.

The 2026 Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) ranked Indonesia 79 out of 100  its highest score ever  jumping three places from fifth in 2025. That's not a gradual climb. That's a sprint.

What is the Global Muslim Travel Index ?

The Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) is an annual ranking by Mastercard and CrescentRating that measures how well destinations cater to Muslim travelers worldwide. It assesses countries on access, communications, environment, and Muslim-friendly services  including halal food availability, prayer facilities, accommodation options, and Islamic heritage sites. In 2026, Indonesia scored 79 and ranked 2nd globally, announced at an event in Singapore on 18 June 2026.

Indonesia's rise wasn't an accident. Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana pointed directly to three factors: halal food infrastructure, the ease of finding prayer spaces, and the depth of the country's Islamic heritage  from the call to prayer echoing across Lombok's rice fields to the ornate mosques of West Sumatra that feel more like temples of light than places of obligation.

"Halal food, prayer facilities, and Islamic heritage" drove the result.

— Tourism Minister Widiyanti Putri Wardhana, on Indonesia's GMTI 2026 ranking

Why does this ranking actually matter?

The global Muslim travel market is one of the fastest-growing segments in tourism. Muslim travelers are projected to spend hundreds of billions of dollars annually, and destinations that score well on the GMTI tend to attract disproportionate investment in halal infrastructure, airlines, and hospitality. For Indonesia  the world's largest Muslim-majority country  landing at number two is both a validation and a competitive signal.

Here's the part that's easy to overlook: Indonesia jumped three spots in a single year. Most countries on this index move by one position, if at all. Three spots in twelve months is the kind of momentum that gets boardrooms at international hotel chains paying attention.

What's the target for GMTI 2027?

Secretary Bayu Aji made it explicit: Indonesia is targeting 1st place in 2027. That means whoever currently holds the top spot  and has held it for years  is now facing a credible challenger. The government isn't treating this as a vanity metric. It's actively strengthening Indonesia's halal tourism ecosystem, which signals policy budget, infrastructure investment, and international positioning all moving in the same direction.