Bahrain Jumps to Seventh in Muslim Travel Ranking
Bahrain has leapt five places to become the world’s seventh-best place for Muslim travellers, putting every Gulf state inside the global top ten.
The kingdom scored 74 out of 100 in the 2026 Global Muslim Travel Index, issued by Mastercard- CrescentRating, after rising from 12th place last year.
Bahrain shared seventh spot with Kuwait. Its best mark came in the environment field, where itscored 80 points for the conditions offered to Muslim visitors.
Saudi Arabia came second worldwide with 79 points, Qatar fifth with 76 and the UAE sixth with 75.
Oman took tenth place with 73.
The result gave the Gulf a clean sweep of places in the top ten, pointing to the region’s growing pull among Muslim holidaymakers.
Strong air links, short travel times between Gulf states and easy access to halal food, prayer rooms and tourist services all helped the region’s showing.
Bahrain’s five-place climb was among the largest gains in this year’s table and placed it ahead of many long-established holiday markets.
The index judged 150 places under four headings: access, communications, environment and services.
Together, those markets account for over 98 pc of Muslim visitor arrivals worldwide.
The study also found a sharp rise in the use of artificial intelligence when planning trips. Eight in ten travellers surveyed said they used AI tools for travel, from choosing where to stay to finding halal restaurants, prayer spaces, transport and places to visit.
That shift has made clear and easy-to-find online travel details ever more important as holidaymakers turn to phones and AI before booking flights, rooms and outings.
For Bahrain, the rise strengthens its place in a fast-growing travel market and draws attention to its air links, visitor facilities and services for Muslim guests.
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