The recent article "Halal Holidays in the Sun" on BBC and comments on different websites prompted me to write these few lines since there seems to be some misunderstanding about this Halal segment.
Although consuming products and services that are Halal has always been the foremost consideration of a Muslim, the ability and the availability now of making any product and service "Halal" or "Halal friendly" has given a new impetus to the Halal conscious consumer to look for a "Halal/Halal Friendly" choice in anything they consume.
This huge transformation is just beginning to get the attention of the mainstream media and, more importantly, the businesses. Some of the biggest players in the Halal Food industry (estimated to be more than USD 650 billion annually) are MNCs like Nestle and the meat industries in Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil.
This trend has gone beyond the food and banking industries and is increasingly extending to lifestyle and leisure activities, particularly the Travel and Tourism industry.
The last ten years have seen a huge growth in Muslim travelers. We estimate Muslim travelers' travel and tourism expenditure in 2007 / 2008 contributed to around 6% to 7 % of the total worldwide tourism expenditure. Within a couple of years, this figure could reach around 10%, meaning a USD 100 Billion a year market segment.
Many destinations are already beginning to see the potential and accommodate this group of travelers' unique needs. This is opening up many new destinations for the Halal-conscious travelers. These destinations would not have been in their travel plans otherwise. This also means it has opened up opportunities for Muslims to interact with those communities. Accommodating the basic Halal-friendly facilities (Halal food, prayer direction, etc) in the mainstream travel industry will increase the interaction between Muslims and others, contrary to some of the comments in the BBC article.
The Travel industry has many hundred years of experience in handling the unique requirements of the different segments of travelers they wish to attract and will make the necessary adjustments to make all their visitors comfortable. Most of them will eventually embrace the basic "Halal friendly" requirements while still providing the services and facilities for others.
Destinations and facilities that go beyond the basic requirements and provide Halal-friendly recreational facilities do not have adult TV channels in the hotels, are Alcohol-free, etc.. will not only cater to the Halal conscious travelers but also to thousands of others who wish to have such a family-friendly environment for their holidays.
Destinations, services, facilities, etc., that will take the lead in making the adjustments necessary to make these visitors comfortable will stand to benefit both economically and socially. For those who have still not seen the potential, the business realities in time to come will make them rethink their strategies for evolving to cater to this niche market of one-quarter of the world's population.
