After the introductions by Elizabeth Chin, the Executive Director of SACEOS, Mr. Edward Liu, President of SACEOS, highlighted the growing trends in Halal food, Islamic banking, and other industries in his opening address. Talking about the travel industry, he highlighted that the halal-conscious market is becoming increasingly significant in purchasing power. The leisure market alone is valued at more than US$50 billion. Already representing around 6 % to 7% of the global tourism spend.

Mr. Manoj Menon from Frost & Sullivan shared with the participants the Global trends of the Halal Industry and, in particular, what the major travel destinations are doing to attract this market segment.

In recent years, Singapore has seen increased visitors from countries like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar etc. Mr. Lou from the Singapore Tourism Board talked about what Singapore is doing to continue to attract these travelers and the importance of making Singapore a Halal-friendly destination.

Mr. Fazal Bahardeen from Crescentrating went into the details of Halal-friendly facilities and services and how to implement them in hotels, resorts, attractions, etc. He also talked about products and services that Crescentrating is developing in this area to benefit both the consumers and the service providers.

Crescentrating is also planning to hold a series of such briefings in other locations.