From Religious Tourism to a Muslim Economic Ecosystem: Proposal for a Wali Songo Economic Corridor

Indonesia’s religious tourism industry draws millions of people each year to the tombs of the Wali Songo, historic mosques, Islamic boarding schools and centers of Muslim tradition. But the country should stop treating visitor numbers as the main measure of success, Setiawan Budi Utomo argues.

The more important question, he writes, is how much economic value remains in local communities and how much becomes capital or productive assets. His proposal calls for a shift from counting traffic to building an economic ecosystem around religious travel.

Tourism spending can circulate through accommodation, restaurants, transport services, vendors and guides before reaching workers and suppliers. That multiplier effect means destinations should be judged not only by entrance fees or local charges, but also by visitor spending, length of stay, local goods and services, and the wider economic impact.

A busy pilgrimage site may still generate limited value if visitors arrive in the morning, spend only a few hours, make modest purchases and return home the same day. Indonesia has national data on travel purpose, accommodation, trip length and average spending through mobile positioning data and a digital domestic tourism survey. The missing information, Utomo says, is more detailed measurement of visitor yield, local retention, job creation and whether micro, small and medium enterprises actually move up the value chain.

He argues that religious tourism has a distinctive market because destinations linked to history, faith, emotional ties and sacredness cannot easily be replaced by cheaper alternatives. Visitors also pay for experience, stories, knowledge, identity and meaning, he writes, allowing economic value to expand without commercializing the substance of religion. The cited Mastercard-CrescentRating index projects international Muslim travel to rise from about 196 million trips in 2025 to 208 million in 2026 and 262 million by 2030.