PH Halal industry should draw Muslim tourists

Food is just one of the many reasons why people love to travel. But to Muslim tourists, it’s something that can prevent them from visiting other places.

The Department of Tourism (DoT) is looking to resolve such problem by starting an inventory of halal-friendly establishments. The main goal is to improve the region’s marketability to Muslim visitors.

Chief Tourism operation officer, Zuhairah A. Abas-Diamla, said that once this loophole is plugged, promoting the region to Muslim tourists will be much easier.

“We need to look at the total picture of how halal has been practiced by our local tourism establishments,” Ms. Abas-Diamla said as reported by BusinessWorld.

She also added that the inventory is just the start of a long process and that it’s necessary to ensure that everything about halal is put in place.

Marco Polo Davao general manager, Dottie Würgler-Cronin, is also in favor of this initiative.

“We are one with the DoT in this initiative,” said Ms. Würgler-Cronin. Her hotel is among those who implemented initiatives to welcome Muslim travelers including setting up a prayer room and a separate halal kitchen and even utensils for halal food.

Halal is an Islamic lifestyle that’s free of impurities. It doesn’t only pertain to food.

Ms. Abas-Diamla said that making establishment owners understand the concept of halal must be considered. “We must remember that they also need to invest to make their establishments conform with what is required of them in case they want to become Muslim-friendly establishments,” she added.

Although Ms. Abas-Diamla did not identify them, she mentioned that three Malaysian companies are interested in becoming suppliers of halal products to the local market. This lead to the city government forming a body that focuses on halal implementation.

She also said that this endeavor is timely with the opening of the Davao-Kuala Lumpur connectivity. The city is expected to host more Muslim travelers in the future.

Air Asia group president and chief executive officer, Anthony Francis Fernandes, announced during the Davao Investment Conference in July that the airline is servicing the route starting Dec. 21.

Ms. Abas-Diamla emphasized that since the Philippines is the only country in the East Asean Growth Area that’s not dominated by a Muslim population, the “halal-readiness” of the city will help create more intra-businesses within the Brunei-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines subregion.

via BusinessWorld / Carmelito Q. Francisco