To generate the economy and create jobs, the government through the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy (Kemenparekraf) has made West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) a model for developing Muslim-friendly tourism in the country. This was revealed by the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno when he was present virtually at the 1st Nahdlatul Wathan Diniyah Islamiyah (NWDI) Conference, Sunday (30/1). He also explained that NTB has big capital to develop Muslim-friendly halal tourism. Because a series of international awards have been obtained by the province nicknamed the "Island of a Thousand Mosques". "Post-Covid-19 tourism sector development will be focused on quality and sustainable tourism, by prioritizing superior tourism products. One of them is halal or Muslim-friendly based tourism. NTB already has the capital for that as an effort to generate the economy and open fields work," said Sandiaga in a statement.

In 2019, he added, Indonesia was chosen as the World's Best Halal Travel Destination in the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) event, outperforming 130 destinations in the world. Several destinations received halal travel awards, including Lombok, NTB which were designated as The World Best Halal Tourism Destination, and The World Best Halal Honeymoon Destination. "Halal tourism focuses on the extension of service when traveling by carrying out three concepts, namely; Good to Have, Nice to Have, and Must to Have. This concept is translated into 5 major components of Muslim-friendly tourism/halal tourism, namely halal hotels, halal transport, halal food, halal tour packages, and halal finance, we can find these throughout the NTB area," said Sandiaga. He also explained that Indonesia has great potential to develop halal tourism and become a leading Muslim-friendly based destination in the world. The development of the potential for halal tourism is to create employment opportunities and optimally attract foreign exchange from Muslim travelers. According to Sandiaga Data State of The Global Islamic Economy Report 2019, the total expenditure of world Muslim tourists was 200.3 billion US dollars or 12 percent of the total global tourist expenditure of 1.66 trillion US dollars. "Thus, Indonesia is in the 5th position of the "TOP 5 Muslim Traveler Countries" with the largest expenditure after; Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, and Kuwait. Compared to other Muslim-majority countries, Indonesia is a consumer of halal products. the largest, but unfortunately there are still many products that are spent on imported products," he concluded.

Source: https://koran-jakarta.com/ntb-jadi-model-pengembangan-wisata-moslem-friendly?page=all