ROUNDTABLE: Halal is not just about the food

How important is halal tourism for your business and what demands are you experiencing from clients?

MOHAMMED: We do not really push anything that is halal just to get that audience. Going to the UK, Australia, Thailand, it is a given and it is available. It is only when people go to new destinations that they ask, and that could be a deciding factor. Halal for us is more about the food, we are not going too much into the Shariah compliance, it is just about the food.

ARORA: At R Hotels we are a Shariah-compliant company and put a great emphasis on halal tourism. For us, 80% of the business is halal tourism. It is not just about the food, there is a lot more to do with halal tourism. If I talk about hotels, starting in the rooms you have the qiblah sign, you have got to have prayer mats, you have halal food, Athan read five times a day through a PA system, if you have recreation facilities you have to have facilities for men and women, serviced by female staff if it is for women with their head covered, you have to have ablutions in the toilets, you have to have prayer rooms and obviously no alchohol and no adult movies, it has to be family-friendly entertainment.

In the western world they are going to the extent of having dedicated floors to tap into this market. Muslim travellers are educated and well-travelled, but they still look for the airlines, the hotels, the facilities that are within the Muslim faith. That is still predominant.

D’SOUZA: For Millennium, we are the only five-star hotel in this part of Dubai that is non-alcoholic. Our travellers right now are predominantly from the GCC market. We don’t serve pork, we have the qiblah and prayer mats in the rooms. We do cater a lot to the Muslim traveller who is very affluent, very educated and they do look for these kind of aspects in the hotel room.

ARORA: Just to put that in to perspective, it is demonstrated by demand. A hotel like ours, when it comes to school holidays and Eid, I am almost sold out, whereas my sister properties are still in their 30-40%. People with Muslim faith, they look for such products and they try and pick those products over the others. We are a city that is in the OIC, but within the cities there is still a demand pattern.

PONZO: We can feel that there is a demand, however, there is a gap between the demand and the supply. There is no strong marketing message to consumers about all these possibilities that the hotels are offering. Everybody is very cautious about the message that we give. It is a big thing, but it is not defined yet as a strategic direction for our company for example.

ARORA: I travelled with my colleagues to Russia and it took almost two hours to find a restaurant for halal food. Within our region, people take it for granted because they will find something or the other. It is more on the outside of this region where there is a gap.

AHMED: It is the whole experience for the traveller, from the time of boarding the aircraft to landing and going through the customs. That could also be addressed, it is not just hotels and food. Going by the trend in the market it is a lot more than just what you eat. I did have a colleague of mine who was in Japan and he said that even the bread that you get is not halal as it has some element of pork in it. Within this region we have absolutely no issue with halal food because this is what is expected of this region.

But again, when you are travelling outside, those governments, or those industries, they need to have a responsibility to create that. It is not only limited to hotels, they have done a tremendous job, but it is just the general outside player.

KARIM: The market is very significant for us and we are very much specialised in this. Of course food being halal, or a non-alcoholic hotel, is a basic requirement. For Muslim people who are travelling, they are not that much concerned about those issues, they can always find something to eat and drink. They are looking for hotels near by a mosque, or if they have some business meetings or exhibitions they will find a hotel that is convenient by location.

We notice from our experience, Muslim people that want to go for holiday, they are trying to find a more halal-friendly atmosphere, a family-friendly atmosphere. Yes a big portion, 75% of our customers are Muslim, but also we have around 25% of non-Muslim customers who are booking through us because they want to find that family-friendly atmosphere, where ladies can find specialised beach, covered, or 100% private for ladies. Our customers mainly consider these aspects in their bookings. There is a really big demand for comprehensive, family atmosphere.

source: arabiantravelnews