OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

IN WORLD HALAL TOURISM –

DR. ZALIHA ZAINUDDIN
8 MAC 2021
 Y O U A N W R I T E H E R E

ANOTHER
TITLE
A company is an association or collection of individuals,
whether natural persons, legal persons, or a mixture of
both. Company members share a common purpose and

ABOUT unite in order to focus their various talents and organize

their collectively available skills or resources to achieve
specific, declared goals. A company or association of

ISLAMIC persons can be created at law as legal person so that

the company in itself can accept Limited liability for civil
responsibility and taxation incurred as members

TOURISM perform (or fail) to discharge their duty within the

publicly declared "birth certificate" or published policy.

CENTRE
Because companies are legal persons, they also may
associate and register themselves as companies – often
known as a corporate group.

Copyright © 2019 by Islamic Tourism Centre, Malay

 ISLAMIC TOURISM CENTRE
- A brief history -

Supervised by a Board
of Trustees, chaired
Registered as a Secretary General -
Company Limited by Ministry of Tourism,
Guarantee Arts & Culture
on 22 June 2009

Approved by the Operations is in

government on accordance with
20 February 2009 the office manual,
approved by the
Officially launched on Board of Trustees
16 March 2009

Copyright © 2019 by Islamic Tourism Centre, Malaysia

 ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
- What we do / what we’ve done -

Partners: OIC,
SESRIC, COMCEC
Joint Co-op:
Indonesia
MOC: Malaysia –
Seminars, Conferences, Japan
MTCP Courses, lead by MITI
Symposiums, Trainings
(Domestic & International) MOU: IIUM

Strategic Research On Market Information Exchange and Strategic Partnership with

Capacity Building in Tourism
Intelligence for Policy Formulation Sharing of Best Practices Governmental, Intra-Gov
Human Resource
and NGOs
Participation in Domestic and
Publications: Standards, Journal, International Trade Events,
Research findings & reports Speaking Engagements,
Stakeholder Meetings, Jury for
Research: Shariah Compliance Islamic Awards
Accommodation, Mosque Profiling
within tourism Corridors in
Malaysia
 GLOBAL MUSLIM POPULATION

GLOBAL OIC NATIONS ASEAN OTHER NATIONS

1.8 1.1 255 350

BILLION BILLION MILLION MILLION

Pew Research Centre Pew Research Centre Pew Research Centre Thomson Reuters
 FACTORS INFLUENCING
MUSLIM TOURIST
Halal Food 67%

Overall Price 53%

Muslim-Friendly Experience 49%

Relaxation 46%

Hotel/Resort Stay Experience 37%

Choice of Destination 36%

Adventure 35%

Dining Food Experience 31%

Air & Hotel Deal 28%

Air Travel Experience 21%

All Other Responses 12%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Source: Dinar Standard and Crescent rating, 2015

 W H AT AT T R AC TS M U S L I M V I S I TO RS
TO V I S I T T H E C O U N T RY ?

SERVICES FA C I L I T I E S
• Halal certified restaurants • Easily accessible prayer rooms
MUSLIM FRIENDLY MUSLIM FRIENDLY
FACILITIES • Muslim friendly hotels • Gender segregation in hospitals
SERVICES
• Muslim friendly tours • Islamic tertiary courses

MUSLIM FRIENDLY MUSLIM FRIENDLY

ATTRACTIONS EVENTS ATTRACTIONS
• Historic Mosques
• Islamic Museums
• Islamic Parks and Gardens
• Islamic Astronomy
• Family Friendly Theme Parks
EVENTS
• International Conferences, Forums
• Quran Recital Competitions
• Religious Events
• Breaking of Fast (Iftar)
 BIGGER PICTURE OF
MUSLIM FRIENDLY TOURISM

MUSLIM FRIENDLY
TOURISM ELEMENTS
 THE NEW GENERATION OF MUSLIM
TRAVELLERS
• Highly Educated
• Well Travelled
• 2nd & 3rd generation from Europe/UK & USA
• Increasingly seeking out goods and services with
Islamic value
• High spending power

Source: Global Muslim Lifestyle Travel Market 2012: Landscape and Consumer Needs Study 10
PROMOTION OF HALAL @ MFT FROM
NON-MUSLIM MAJORITY COUNTRIES

Source: Global Muslim Lifestyle Travel Market 2012: Landscape and Consumer Needs Study 11
 MALAYSIA RANKING IN
GLOBAL MUSLIM TRAVEL INDEX 2019
TOP 10 OIC DESTINATIONS
RANK DESTINATION SCORE
1 MALAYSIA 78
1 INDONESIA 78
3 TURKEY 75
4 SAUDI ARABIA 72
5 UAE 71
6 QATAR 68
7 MOROCCO 67
8 BAHRAIN 66
9 OMAN 66
10 BRUNEI 65

GMTI CRITERIA
8. INBOUND ECONOMY
1. VISA REQUIREMENTS
9. ENABLING CLIMATE
2. AIR CONNECTIVITY
10. ACCESS TO PRAYER SPACES
3. TRANSPORT INFRASTRUCTURE
11. DINING OPTIONS & HALAL ASSURANCE
4. OUTREACH
12. ACCOMMODATION OPTIONS
5. EASE OF COMMUNICATION
13. AIRPORT FACILITIES
6. DIGITAL PRESENCE
14. UNIQUE EXPERIENCE
7. SAFETY & CULTURE Source: MasterCard & Crescentrating
 MUSLIM FRIENDLY HOSPITALITY SERVICES
STANDARDS (MS: 2610:2015)
+ MS2610:2015 is the first Islamic tourism standard
in the world developed by a national accreditation
body, the Department of Standards, Ministry of
Science, Technology & Innovation, Malaysia.

+ The standard was developed using with ISO

(International Organization for Standardisation)
principles and adapts to Malaysian environment.

+ Published and launched in 2015

+The development process took into account all

relevant tourism stakeholders / associations .

+ Focuses on 3 areas:
Accommodation
Tour Operator
Tourist Guide

+ The Standard can be purchased from the

Department of Standards or through
msonline.gov.my for only USD5.

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MUSLIM FRIENDLY
ACCOMMODATION RECOGNITION
(MFAR)
+ MFAR is the first of its kind in the world that is
issued by a government agency.

+ Published and launched in 24 July 2019.

+ All hotel associations in Malaysia pledged their

commitment, encouragement and support for
MOTAC through ITC to develop the MFAR.

+ The rating for hotel have 3 categories:

- Platinum
- Gold
- Silver

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 Challenges to Halal Tourism/
Muslim Friendly Tourism
Industry
Think conventional
High cost of segregation
*Low priority on Islamic concept
*New investment for pool/gym etc
*Unconvinced of business potential
*Issue of gender-bias
*No liquor = less business

Muslim Friendly
Tourism

Misunderstanding of Halal Non-Islamic elements in

*Operators/TGs bring to non-Halal or
packages
pork-free premises *less emphasis on Islamic attractions
*Operates on commission* *not enforced in licensing/rating*

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ISLAMOPHOBIA & MEDIA INFLUENCE

EXTENSION OF TERRORISTACTIVITIES IN THE REGION

SYRIAN CIVIL WAR TURKEY BOMBINGS NEW YORK BOMBING

2015 - PRESENT 2016 2017
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Other Issues
➢ Have no dedicated tourism ministry / agency
- Establish tourism office / representative.

➢ Lack of funding
- fund for promotion and marketing development

➢ Political stability
- Safety & security issues (positive image)

➢ Low awareness of MFT on supply side

- regular workshops and seminars on the MFT supply side

➢ Muslim-Friendly businesses need also be both operationally and

financially sound.
- Promotion of MF/Shariah Compliant must be balanced without
neglecting certain aspects
- Eg: Rayani Air

➢ Halal issues
- Low understanding of the concept of Halal
- Industry reluctant to get certification, because they feel they are
already Halal
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THANK YOU / TERIMA KASIH