Halal tourism

Last updated
Halal Chinese restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan. Qing Zhen Zhong Guo Niu Rou Guan .JPG
Halal Chinese restaurant in Taipei, Taiwan.

Halal tourism (sometimes called Halal travel or halal-friendly tourism) is a subcategory of tourism which is geared towards Muslim families who abide by rules of Islam. The hotels in such destinations do not serve alcohol, have separate swimming pools and spa facilities for men and women, serve only halal foods, and have prayer facilities in-room and in a common hall. Travel agents, while designing travel packages for this, follow guidelines of halal. Malaysia, Turkey and many more countries offer facilities in accordance with the religious beliefs of Muslim tourists in order to attract more customers. Currently, there exist no internationally recognized standards on Halal tourism.

Contents

The Halal tourism industry also provides flights where no alcohol or pork products are served, prayer timings are announced, and religious programs are broadcast as part of entertainment offered on board. [1] Many international hotels do serve halal food that is slaughtered in accordance with the teachings of Islamic Sharia and is free of any substances forbidden by Islam such as pork and alcohol. Some hotels have employed people from the Muslim world to provide translation services and other assistance that may be needed by tourists from Muslim countries. [2]

The Economist's article on Halal Business published on May 25, 2013: "It is not just manufactured halal products. Services such as halal holidays are booming, too. Crescent Tours, a London-based online travel specialist, books clients into hotels in Turkey that have separate swimming pools for men and women, no-alcohol policies and halal restaurants, and rents out private holiday villas with high walls", [3] which was featured on Forbes offers Muslim-friendly hotels and advice about halal food options, Quran availability and more. [4]

Based on a report by Thomson Reuters, in 2014 Muslims from around the globe spent $142 billion on travel (excluding Hajj and Umrah). In comparison, travellers from China spent $160 billion on travel in 2014, while US travellers spent $143 billion, placing the Muslim travel sector in third place in global travel spending and accounting for 11 per cent of total global expenditures on travel. [5]

Muslim travel contributed over US$156 billion to global GDP in 2016 and is primed to grow to US$220 billion by 2020, according to the Global Muslim Travel Index 2017 [6] by CrescentRating. [7]

Muslim travel standard

In 2008, CrescentRating was launched as the world's first online hotel reference tool dedicated to Muslim travellers. CrescentRating is divided into a rating scale of 1 through 7 and categories based on the range of amenities and services each participating property offers Muslim guests, including availability of prayer carpets, qibla direction, alcohol policies and availability of halal-certified food. [8]

In 2015, a similar halal classification system called Salam Standard was launched by Tripfez. [9] It has a 4-level classification system ranging from bronze to platinum. The classification system has been recognized and supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Malaysia) and the Islamic Tourism Center [10]  and presented at the COMCEC conference [11] under the auspices of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in 2017.

UK Halal tourism

In April 2017, UK ranked 20th in the overall Global Muslim Travel Index [7] but 3rd in the Non-OIC destinations beating Spain despite its past Islamic heritage. Part of the success was due to it Air Connectivity, ease of communication, family friendly destination and ease of prayers spaces which may stem from its domestic population of Muslims. [12]


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lombok</span> Island in West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia

Lombok is an island in West Nusa Tenggara province, Indonesia. It forms part of the chain of the Lesser Sunda Islands, with the Lombok Strait separating it from Bali to the west and the Alas Strait between it and Sumbawa to the east. It is roughly circular, with a "tail" to the southwest, about 70 kilometres across and a total area of about 4,738.65 square kilometres including smaller offshore islands. The provincial capital and largest city on the island is Mataram.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism</span> Travel for recreational or leisure purposes

Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments.

Islamic dietary laws are laws that Muslims follow in their diet. Islamic jurisprudence specifies which foods are halāl and which are harām. The dietary laws are found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as well as in collections of traditions attributed to Islamic prophet Muhammad ("Sunnah").

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halal</span> Islamic term for "permissible" things

Halal is an Arabic word that translates to 'permissible' in English. In the Quran, the term halal is contrasted with the term haram. This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification known as "the five decisions": mandatory, recommended, neutral, reprehensible and forbidden. Islamic jurists disagree on whether the term halal covers the first two or the first four of these categories. In recent times, Islamic movements seeking to mobilize the masses and authors writing for a popular audience have emphasized the simpler distinction of halal and haram.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in Indonesia</span> Overview of tourism in Indonesia

Tourism in Indonesia is an important component of the Indonesian economy as well as a significant source of its foreign exchange revenues. Indonesia was ranked at 20th in the world tourist Industry in 2017, also ranked as the ninth-fastest growing tourist sector in the world, the third-fastest growing in Asia and fastest-growing in Southeast Asia. In 2018, Denpasar, Jakarta and Batam are among of 10 cities in the world with fastest growth in tourism, 32.7, 29.2 and 23.3 percent respectively. The tourism sector ranked as the 4th largest among goods and services export sectors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tourism in Thailand</span> Overview of tourism in Thailand

Tourism is an economic contributor to the Kingdom of Thailand. Estimates of tourism revenue directly contributing to the GDP of 12 trillion baht range from one trillion baht (2013) 2.53 trillion baht (2016), the equivalent of 9% to 17.7% of GDP. When including indirect travel and tourism receipts, the 2014 total is estimated to be the equivalent of 19.3% of Thailand's GDP. The actual contribution of tourism to GDP is lower than these percentages because GDP is measured in value added not revenue. The valued added of the Thailand's tourism industry is not known. According to the secretary-general of the Office of the National Economic and Social Development Council in 2019, the government projects that the tourism sector will account for 30% of GDP by 2030, up from 20% in 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Taiwan</span> Religion in Taiwan

Islam is a minor religion in Taiwan and it represents about 0.3% of the population. There are around 60,000 Muslims in Taiwan, in which about 90% belong to the Hui ethnic group. There are also more than 250,000 foreign Muslims working in Taiwan from Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines, as well as other nationalities from more than 30 countries. As of 2018, there are eleven mosques in Taiwan, with the most notable being the Taipei Grand Mosque, the oldest and largest one.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Islam in Macau</span> Islam in Macau, China

Islam in Macau is a minority religion in the region. According to the Islamic Union of Hong Kong, together with all of the foreign Muslim workers combined, there are around 10,000 Muslims in Macau. Only around 400 are local Macanese people, and they are collective known as The Macau Islamic Society.

The economy of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) combines the economies of 56* member states. 49* are predominantly Muslim states. As of 2013, the combined GDP (nominal) of 48* Muslim majority countries was US$ 12.97 trillion. As of 2016, they contributed 8% of the world's total. Those 57* OIC countries have a combined GDP of US$ 23.948trillion. The largest economic country based on total PPP and Nominal GDP is Indonesia. The richest country on the basis of GDP per capita at PPP is Qatar, with incomes exceeding $133,357 per capita. On the basis of per capita GDP, Qatar is also the richest country, with incomes exceeding US$68,977 per capita. According to a report by Salam Standard, the GDP impact of the world’s Muslim tourism sector exceeded $138 billion in 2015, generating 4.3 million jobs and contributing more than $18 billion in tax revenue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Religious tourism</span> Travel to religious sites, whether spiritual or sightseeing

Religious tourism, spiritual tourism, sacred tourism, or faith tourism, is a type of tourism with two main subtypes: pilgrimage, meaning travel for religious or spiritual purposes, and the viewing of religious monuments and artefacts, a branch of sightseeing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hajj</span> Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca

Hajj is an annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest city for Muslims. Hajj is a mandatory religious duty for Muslims that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by all adult Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey, and of supporting their family during their absence from home.

<i>Lebaran</i> Indonesian term for Islamic holidays

Lebaran is the Indonesian popular name for two Islamic official holidays, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha in Indonesia, and is one of the major national holidays in the country. Lebaran holiday officially lasts for two days in the Indonesian calendar, although the government usually declares a few days before and after the Lebaran as a bank holiday. Many individuals or families, especially Muslims take paid time off from their workplace during these days.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hotel rating</span> System of classifying hotels according to their quality

Hotel ratings are often used to classify hotels according to their quality. From the initial purpose of informing travellers on basic facilities that can be expected, the objectives of hotel rating have expanded into a focus on the hotel experience as a whole. Today the terms 'grading', 'rating', and 'classification' are used to generally refer to the same concept, that is to categorize hotels.

According to the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), Malaysia reportedly received 641,000 foreign patients in 2011, 728,800 in 2012, 881,000 in 2013, 882,000 in 2014, 859,000 in 2015, and 921,000 in 2016. Malaysia's medical tourism statistics derive from the reported numbers of all foreign patients treated by MHTC-endorsed medical facilities. These figures encompass all registered patients with a foreign passport, which by default also encompass expatriates, migrants, business travellers, and holiday-makers for whom health care may not be the main motive for their stay. The number of MHTC-endorsed medical facilities in Malaysia has increased over the years, playing a role in increasing the official figures on foreign patients. Malaysia is listed in the top 10 tourism destinations in the world by Patients Beyond Borders.

Tripfez Travel is an online travel agency and metasearch engine focusing on Muslims and Halal tourism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zilzar</span> Malaysian marketing platform

Zilzar is a privately held, online marketing platform headquartered in Malaysia, specifically catering to Muslim consumers seeking halal products and services. The company positions itself as a global Muslim lifestyle marketplace where consumers can access information, content, community and trade. This e-commerce platform was launched in 2014 by Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato Sri Muhamad Najib Tun Razak in the 10th World Islamic Economic Forum in Dubai. The site was described as a way of empowering the consumer and creating employment for Muslims in emerging markets by the country's prime minister. The business describes its aim as connecting Muslim consumers and making it easier for halal traders around the world to conduct business online. The platform handles content regarding Islamic societies and products that deals with the compliance of the Islamic Sharia law.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">SalamWeb</span> Muslim compliant web browser developed by Salam Web Technologies DMCC

SalamWeb is a discontinued Chromium-based browser developed by the now-defunct Malaysian start-up Salam Web Technologies MY Sdn. Designed to deliver a Muslim-friendly Web experience, and targeted towards the Muslim audience, it observed the Islamic law and tradition and was certified as a Muslim compliant web browser.

The Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) is a travel index that ranks countries based on their performance in the Muslim travel market. The index is published by CrescentRating in collaboration with MasterCard.

The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) was established by the Ministry of Health, Malaysia (MOH) in 2005. MHTC is responsible in advocating for the healthcare travel industry in Malaysia, coordinating industry collaborations and building public-private partnerships at home and abroad. The Malaysia Healthcare brand was introduced in 2009 with its own logo and tagline, "Quality Care for Your Peace of Mind". In 2011, MHTC was corporatised as an independent entity to coordinate Malaysia's healthcare travel sector.

CrescentRating is a research organization that researches Halal travel.

References

  1. Peter, John. "Economy Umrah Packages" . Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  2. Halal tourism on the rise worldwide: Al Watan Daily
  3. "Consuming passions". The Economist. May 25, 2013.
  4. Caroline Howard (2016-02-24). "30 Millennials Under 30 In Asia Who Are Changing E-commerce And Shopping". Forbes.
  5. Christine Hinz (2015-12-05). "The buzz around halal". Travel Tourism News Middle East.
  6. CrescentRating. "Muslim/Halal Travel & Tourism Market Research, Reports & Publications". CrescentRating.
  7. 1 2 CrescentRating. "Global Muslim Travel Index 2018". www.crescentrating.com.
  8. CrescentRating. "Halal/Muslim Friendly Hotel Rating Standards". CrescentRating.
  9. Khan, Tahira (2017-04-06). "Faeez Fadhillah speaks to British Muslim Magazine about Salam Standard". British Muslim Magazine. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
  10. "Tourism Malaysia returns to the Arabian Travel Market for the 24th year". Tourism Malaysia. Retrieved 2019-10-25.
  11. "Salam Standard by Lagisatu Travel Sdn Bhd" (PDF). COMCEC.
  12. CrescentRating. "MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI)". www.crescentrating.com.