INTERVIEW-‘A mature and developed halal industry is the backbone of Malaysia’s success’ - Islamic Tourism Centre Dir-Gen

Malaysia is the world’s leader in Islamic tourism. It tops the Halal Travel Indicator on Thomson Reuters’ Global Islamic Economy Indicator (GIEI) and the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) produced by CrescentRating and MasterCard.

In 2009, the Malaysian government set up a dedicated Islamic Tourism Centre of Malaysia (ITC), an agency under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, to specifically develop the Islamic tourism sector for Malaysia in research, market intelligence, training, industry development and information exchange.

The agency is also responsible for developing Islamic tourism standards for Malaysia. The first of these standards -- MS2610:2015: Muslim Friendly Hospitality Services – Requirements -- was published in January 2015.

Salaam Gateway asks the ITC’s Director General, Zulkifly Md Said, what Malaysia considers to be the key differences between “Islamic” tourism and “Muslim-friendly” tourism, and what Malaysia has been doing to stay ahead of its competitors.

Salaam Gateway: The ITC produces an annual ‘Muslim Friendly Malaysia’ guide. Does the ITC make a distinction between what it means by Islamic tourism and Muslim-friendly tourism?

Zulkifly Md Said: As an effort to better guide Muslim tourists visiting Malaysia, ITC provides a list of Muslim-friendly products and services on its website that is updated from time to time. Every year we would make this information also available in print as part of our collateral.         

From Malaysia’s standpoint, Islamic tourism refers to a wide range of tourism products that are Islamic in nature, be they mosques, museums, art centres, events, festivals and even astronomy complexes.

For example, more and more mosques in Malaysia have been opening their doors to tourists to showcase their architectural and heritage values through guided tours. These mosques are typically equipped with tourist guides, visitors’ robes, souvenir shops and a particular mosque in Penang, Acheen Street Malay Mosque, even has its own smartphone app.

Annual Islamic festivals such as  Ramadhan and Eids are celebrated as Islamic tourism products to promote the unique Muslim culture in the country with an array of festivals and halal gastronomic adventures.

Malaysia is also a host of many global Islamic events and happenings throughout its annual tourism calendar. One of its biggest highlights is the Annual Al-Quran Recital and Memorisation Assembly that has been running in the country for more than 60 years and which is a major attraction for Muslims visiting Malaysia.

On the other hand, the concept of Muslim-friendly tourism in Malaysia is applied to conventional tourism products and services that have specific features to meet the peculiar requirements of Muslims throughout their stay in the country.

This boils down to two main criteria: access to halal food and prayer facilities.

Whether arriving at the airport, checking in at the hotels, or purchasing tour packages, dining at a restaurant, shopping for souvenirs or even seeking medical services, Muslim tourists can be rest assured that they will have easy access to prayer facilities such as prayer rooms, ablution facilities, prayer mats and prayer time information.

The second critical element of Muslim-friendly Malaysia is the availability of halal food eateries for Muslim tourists.

Halal certification is a voluntary requirement in Malaysia but once applied, it will be regulated through strict enforcement by the Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM).

A mature and developed halal industry is indeed the backbone of Malaysia’s success in becoming one of the top Muslim-friendly destinations in the world.

Major international chains such as McDonalds, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), Starbucks, and Subway are mostly halal-certified and ubiquitous in Malaysia. The Malaysia halal logo can also be spotted at food courts, cafes, kiosks and restaurants offering local and international menus.

A few hotels in Malaysia such as Grand Bluewave, TH Hotels, Perdana PNB Hotel & Suites and DePalma are completely dry from alcohol and market themselves as Muslim-friendly. Other hotels will typically have their main kitchen halal-certified to give their Muslim guests dining comforts and better food selection. During the holy month of Ramadhan many hotels in Malaysia offer a month of Ramadhan buffets, a trend that is also closely monitored by JAKIM.

Salaam Gateway: Are Muslims the only target market for Malaysia’s Islamic tourism sector?

Zulkifly Md Said: Malaysia’s Islamic tourism sector is definitely not exclusive to Muslim tourists. As a multiracial and moderate Muslim country, Islam is the official religion of Malaysia but freedom of faith is practised by all its non-Muslim citizens; this is also reflected in the development of Islamic tourism in the country.

For example two of most famous mosques in Malaysia -- Putra Mosque in Putrajaya and National Mosque in Kuala Lumpur – are frequented by non-Muslim tourists.

ITC plays a supporting role to Tourism Malaysia in the effort of promoting Malaysia in the Middle East and West Asian markets mainly through its offices in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) and Dubai (UAE).

Marketing and promotion efforts are also carried out to attract more Muslim travallers from neighbouring  ASEAN countries such as Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei and Thailand. China is another major source market where Tourism Malaysia is heavily conducting promotional efforts through its China offices in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

Salaam Gateway: One of your initiatives is to develop standards and guidelines for Malaysia’s Islamic tourism sector. Tell us more about how this work is coming along and what the key challenges are.

Zulkifly Md Said: Malaysia’s first Islamic tourism standard “MS2610:2015: Muslim Friendly Hospitality Services – Requirements” was published in January 2015. The standard covers three critical areas, namely accommodation premises, tour packages and tourist guides. It was developed based on the unique requirements of Islamic tourism in Malaysia taking into account the multiracial aspect of the country, tied up with other relevant standards from the halal industry and local regulation currently in force.

The standard was developed  by our national standardisation body, the Department of Standards Malaysia (DSM), led by International Institute of Halal Research & Training (INHART) of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) in collaboration with ITC and other key industry stakeholders such as the Department of Islamic Development (JAKIM), Tourism Malaysia, Malaysia Association of Tour and Travel Agents (MATTA),  Bumiputra Travel & Tour Agents Association of Malaysia (Bumitra), Malaysia Association of Hotel Owners (MAHO), Malaysian Association of Hotels (MAH) and Malaysian Tourist Guides Council (MTGC) .