Halal tourism
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Halal tourism (sometimes called Halal travel or halal-friendly tourism) is a subcategory of
tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
which is geared towards
Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
families who abide by rules of
Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
. 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. The
Halal ''Halal'' (; ar, حلال, ) is an Arabic word that translates to "permissible" in English. In the Quran, the word ''halal'' is contrasted with ''haram'' (forbidden). This binary opposition was elaborated into a more complex classification kno ...
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. Many international hotels do serve
halal food Islamic dietary laws are dietary laws that Muslims follow. Islamic jurisprudence specifies which foods are '' '' (, "lawful") and which are '' '' (, "unlawful"). The dietary laws are found in the Quran, the holy book of Islam, as well as in col ...
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 The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. I ...
to provide
translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
services and other assistance that may be needed by tourists from Muslim countries.
The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'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", which was featured on
Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...
offers Muslim-friendly hotels and advice about halal food options, Quran availability and more. Based on a report by
Thomson Reuters Thomson Reuters Corporation ( ) is a Canadian multinational media conglomerate. The company was founded in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, where it is headquartered at the Bay Adelaide Centre. Thomson Reuters was created by the Thomson Corpora ...
, in 2014 Muslims from around the globe spent $142 billion on
travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...
(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. Muslim travel contributed over US$156 billion to global
GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of the market value of all the final goods and services produced and sold (not resold) in a specific time period by countries. Due to its complex and subjective nature this measure is ofte ...
in 2016 and is primed to grow to US$220 billion by 2020, according to the
Global Muslim Travel Index 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. History The Global Muslim Travel Index ...
2017 by CrescentRating.


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. In 2015, a similar halal classification system called
Salam Standard As-salamu alaykum ( ar, ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ, , ), also ''Salamun Alaykum'' is a greeting in Arabic that means 'Peace be upon you'. The (, meaning 'peace') has become a religious salutation for Muslims worldwide when greet ...
was launched by Tripfez. 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) ) is a ministry of the Government of Malaysia that is responsible for tourism, culture, archives, library, museum, heritage, arts, theatre, handicraft, visual arts, convention, exhibitions, Islamic tourism and craft. The Minister of Tourism, A ...
and th
Islamic Tourism Center
 and presented at the COMCEC conference 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 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. A key player in Halal tourism within UK is Muslim History Tours, who have given speeches about Halal tourism in UK to the National Tourist Office Visit Britain and local authorities and offers consultation to shopping destinations to make services user-friendly to Arab and Muslim tourist. In 2015, they were World's Runners Up in the Best Halal Tour Operator narrowly missing out to Etihad Hala. Their niche market provides Halal friendly hotels, professionally qualified guided tours, Halal meals on River Thames Cruises, a Muslim History sightseeing tour bus of London was launched in April 2017 and the most recent introduction appears to have been black taxi tours. They were selected in Sept 2017 to be 1 of 7 of the best halal holidays by The National, UAE. They were featured in The Londonist with its founder AbdulMaalik Tailor discovering London's first Mosque in 1895. There was further coverage on London Live and The Muslim Vibe. For Eid 2018, they were commissioned by one of the world's most famous art galleries,
Tate Britain Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
to deliver the first Islamic tour, which broke a record for the most attendees on a tour at Tate Britain The tour raised wider concerns with regards to labels and how commentary is interpreted with Tailor calling for the need to revisit some of the established narratives of classic works of art.


References


External links


The Guardian - The birth of halal holidays

CNN Travel - Halal Tourism's Moment In The Sun

BBC - Halal Holidays In The Sun

The Economist - Consuming passions
{{tourism Halal food Religious tourism Hajj