Training global hotel staff for Muslim travelers

A Muslim guest asks an employee at a hotel bistro what time the restaurant opens as he and his wife will need to have suhoor, the Ramadhan pre-dawn meal Muslims eat to sustain them throughout the fasting day. To his bafflement, the staff member says it opens at 6:30 am, which, for the Muslim guest, is too late for the pre-dawn meal.

This is a scene from a multi-cultural training video series that Marriott International produced to educate its staff on how to interact with Muslim guests.

In a second skit that models a better way to handle the situation, the staff member readily suggests solutions in the form of setting up a continental breakfast in a meeting room for the guest and his group, pre-ordering a take-out box, or stocking up on food from nearby halal grocery stores.

Staff training can make or break the Muslim guest experience. Front line staff already need to receive a wide range of training, from guest relations to using the hotel’s reservation management system.

How do you effectively incorporate Muslim guest training within your overall training program?

You need to decide which topics are most critical to address, which staff to train, and in which format the training should be conducted. 

HOW KEY GLOBAL BRANDS ARE TACKLING THE OPPORTUNITY

Muslim travel market as an aggregate is larger than the largest source market of travel---the United States, whose outbound tourists spent $131 billion in 2013, $9 billion less than the current Muslim travel estimate, according to the State of the Global Islamic Economy 2014-2015 report.

Training hotel staff for the needs and wants of Muslim travelers therefore is a key area of consideration for many global brands.

Cross-cultural and diversity training is a key component in the training programs of global hotel brands.  

HILTON

Hilton Worldwide, in addition to the diversity training they offer team members, has launched “Culture Wise” which is a database of information on cultural sensitivities that their teams can access through their Hilton Worldwide University, their internal online training platform.

JW MARRIOTT

In terms of Muslim-specific training, JW Marriott Grosvenor House conducts cultural awareness training for its front-line staff on social protocols related to the Muslim market.

Howard Hartley, Director of Middle East and Diplomatic Sales at the Grosvenor House, informed us via email that their Muslim guest-related training, which focuses on the Arabian Gulf (where 95 percent of their Middle East guests come from) covers regional characteristics, the tenets of Islam, greetings, and basic Arabic phrases.

This year to date the Marriott Grosvenor House has conducted 700 hours of training.

In addition, the Marriott’s global multicultural team conducted a series of webinars on taking care of Muslim guests and produced a multicultural video that includes skits showing cultural faux pas, followed by commentary by the multicultural team on how best to address the situation. The skit is then reenacted showing a better response to the situation.

MILLENNIUM & COPTHORNE

Millennium & Copthorne Hotels in London offer “Middle East” Workshops that cover culture, religion, as well as the do’s and don’ts of dealing with guests from the Middle East.

The hotel offers guests from the Middle East halal food, non-alcoholic cocktails and Arabic afternoon tea.

HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT HOLDINGS

Hospitality Management Holdings, a hotel management company based in the United Arab Emirates, trains staff to offer their signature Arabic hospitality.

Laurent A. Voivenel, the company’s CEO, told us that they find they need to make a greater investment in halal hospitality training when hiring overseas staff from non-Muslim countries.

CRESCENTRATING

Meanwhile, CrescentRating, a Singapore-based company that rates the halal services of hotels and other travel services, offers a course module for hoteliers on effectively attracting and engaging with the Muslim travel segment.

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