New Zealand launches Halal guide for Muslim tourists

As Muslim travelers increasingly change their tourism preferences from traditional trips to Mecca to beach holidays, a number of countries are adapting their tourism offers to the Islamic culture and beliefs. Last Friday New Zealand launched a new culinary tourism guide focusing on meeting the needs of Halal travelers.

New Zealand Tourism and Christchurch International Airport have launched a new culinary tourism guide focusing on meeting the needs of Halal travelers. Wanting to capitalize on the country's geographic position -- close to some of the world's largest Muslim populations like Indonesia and Malaysia, the new guide aims to attract one of the world's fastest growing tourism markets.

The guide provides general tourism information as well as a list of Halal classified restaurants and cafes including Halal-certified and vegetarian dishes or vegan cuisine. The new guide will be distributed among travel agents and their customers as well as New Zealand embassies offshore.

In recent years, Muslim tourism in New Zealand has been growing steadily. Last August alone, the number of Muslim visitors to the country was up by 141 percent, compared to the same month last year. According to Tourism New Zealand, Muslim tourists' expenditure is expected to rise to more than 13 percent of the entire global tourism expenditure by 2020.

As part of the program, the agency is offering a series of workshops for the tourism industry, with the aim of providing information on how to meet needs and expectations of the Halal market.

Halal tourism is a new product in the tourism market, designed to meet the needs and beliefs of Islamic culture. Some hotels like Club Familia, have been adapting their practices to suit Islamic customs, especially in countries such as Turkey. These include Halal food, separate swimming pools for men and women, no alcoholic drinks and, women-only beach areas with Islamic swimming etiquette. Some hotels also include prayer facilities.

This year, Australia's Queensland office of tourism advertised the Gold Coast as a place to spend Ramadan, with the phrase "Why not try Gold Coast for a cooler Ramadan this year?"

(Global Travel Industry News / 07 Oct 2012)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com

New Zealand: Tapping into the halal economy

The Muslim slaughtermen turns the sheep to face Mecca, offering a prayer to Allah as he slits its throat and leaves the sheep to bleed out.

This bloody image is the face of halal in New Zealand, but business leaders will have to move past it if they want a piece of the largely untapped $2.3 trillion halal economy globally.

"Halal is not about ritual slaughtering of animals," said Jamil Bidin, chief executive of Malaysia's Halal Industry Development Corporation.

"If you go beyond that, halal is not only in food products, but non-food."

Halal, which simply means "permissible" in Arabic, relates to the Islamic beliefs around what can and cannot be consumed. A cosmetic containing animal products or alcohol, for example, might not be considered halal.

Bidin is part of a visiting delegation who spoke at the University of Auckland Business School's Asia Dialogue conference today.

The delegation leaders, which also included Malaysian billionaire Tan Sri Halim Saad, want Kiwis to realise that the true scope of the halal economy extends beyond just meat.

Cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, financial services and furniture are just a few of the opportunities they identify, with no shortage of demand and virtually no supply.

"If you look at the requirements of the Islam religion, if there is a halal product available you must consume or use halal product," said Bidin.

"With just one logo on your product, you will have an additional 1.8 billion Muslim customers around the world."

Certification has been one of the main barriers to uptake of halal practices, with a range of licensees here adhering to varying standards and intepretations of Islamic law.

One representative spoke out at the conference to say he was surprised that others did not consider the process simple or transparent.

"It looks like we have not done a good enough job in communicating that to the industry."

Bidin and Halim Saad said that New Zealand would need support - from Government or elsewhere - to continue to raise awareness and dispel misconceptions.

"There needs to be a body to provide some kind of advice or guidance to the industry players," said Bidin.

In Australia, he said, the halal economy was already on the government agenda because of the sizeable economic contribution it provided.

Most New Zealand abattoirs already perform halal killing, but Halim Saad said he was looking for an end-to-end process "from farm to fork".

That would extends the practice to every single link in the supply and logistics chain, raising the possibility of creating international halal networks.

(Stuff.Coz.Nz / 13 July 2012)

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Alfalah Consulting - Kuala Lumpur: www.alfalahconsulting.com
Islamic Investment Malaysia: www.islamic-invest-malaysia.com