Trump's travel ban could increase Muslim tourism to Japan.

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It's not final yet, but the U.S. Supreme Court is allowing President Trump's travel ban to be fully enforced on residents of several mostly Muslim countries-- in what spokesperson Hogan Gidley calls, "countries presenting heightened risks of terrorism." The policy still requires federal court approval on whether the ban is legal.

From the beginning in January when the first ban rolled out with little warning and airports were ill-prepared, to September when the third revision of the ban was issued-- it's been a constant back and forth battle between federal judges, appeals court, and the Justice Department. The newest edition sets varying levels of restrictions on foreign nationals from eight countries: Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, with Venezuela and North Korea being the latest additions.

One door slams shut

Whether the ban is explicitly targeted based upon religion or not, amidst the chaos, fewer Muslims are choosing to visit the States. "Those who were interested to explore the U.S. are definitely having second thoughts and changing their plans," says Fazel Bahardeen, Founder and CEO of CrescentRating, a research consultancy on halal-friendly travel. From a consumer perspective, the Muslim market that Bahardeen and his other company HalalTrip are engaged in is not defined by the acts of a "few lunatics, drug addicts and criminals who perform atrocities and terrorise people, supposedly in the name of Islam." Instead, it is a peaceful community of 1.6 billion who share common values.


The Islamic tourism executive says the message Trump's policy sends is that Muslim students, entrepreneurs, and business people are no longer welcome to the U.S. Any who choose to visit will be subject to close scrutiny. His company had projected Muslim visitors to reach 4.5 million with an expenditure of $13 billion by 2020. HalalTrip is now revising that projection.


A Japan Muslim Travel Index (JMTI) was put out recently analyzing the inbound tourism potential. The research showed that Muslim arrivals to the island nation have been steadily climbing from around 150,000 in 2004 to 700,000 in 2016. Mastercard-Crescent which was behind the study estimates Muslim arrivals to Japan will surpass one million next year, accounting for around 3.5% of overall inbound traffic.

Some of the drivers for attracting the religious community are based on access and services. As a part of economic restructuring, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe relaxed tourist visa regulations for visitors from select Southeast Asia countries-- first for Malaysia and Thailand, followed by Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam-- all of which have a large Muslim population. While countries in Southeast Asia are not on Trump's travel ban list, Japan "is (taking) the opposite approach of USA," says Shinya Yokoyama, co-founder of Halal Media Japan. "We have been helping ASEAN countries for their development in the last 70 years, and are now welcoming Muslim travelers and students." Perhaps now more so than ever before.