Terminologically, ‘halal’ means permissible or lawful in Islam. This word is habitually linked with food, due to the Muslim’s second nature to distinguish the food they can and cannot consume. But to quote from the Islamic Council of Victoria site, halal is also commonly used in cosmetics, personal care products, pharmaceuticals, food ingredients, and food contact materials. To conclude, halal is actually a benchmark of Muslim’s way of living—not just food on a plate. But in recent years traveling and tourism start to embrace more of the halal way of life, resulting in the emergence of halal tourism.
The reasons behind halal tourism
According to The New York Times, the number of Muslim travelers has grown nearly 30 percent since 2016. Likewise, a recent joint study by MasterCard and Crescent Rating also forecasts that this new culture’s contribution to the global economy will rise to $300 billion over the next decade. This was one of the good reasons for the rise of halal tourism.
The other—the primary reason, to be precise—is the supply of halal living itself in non-Muslim countries. Halal restaurants, halal-menu food on hotels, resorts with separate swimming pools for men and women, praying room, up to flights with no alcohol are what the Muslims seek during their trips. This demand, or more like desire, then prompted some Muslim travelers around the world to create platforms and sites that provide news and information about halal tourism nowadays.
As listed by The New York Times contributor, currently there are seven of the platforms and sites. Ms. Hamdi, a founder of Halal Travel Guide, said that she and her husband made the site to encourage Muslims to seek cultural travel experience outside the traditional Muslim-friendly countries. Generally, they give information about the best Muslim-friendly restaurants and prayer facilities and sites that welcome a family with a baby that they have visited. Both of them also provide tips, recommendations, and curated itineraries for Muslim travelers to several countries.
Halal tourism today
On the other hand, some non-Muslim countries also start to provide halal tourism—by creating halal restaurants, halal-menu foods on hotel, and public praying rooms—to welcome more Muslim tourists as well as to boost their income. Japan and Korea are two of a few of them. Singapore also joined the new fray, with an assortment of initiatives, one of which is having separate halal and non-halal restaurants in their Changi International airport, which was crowned the world’s best airport two years in a row.
As for Muslim countries, like Indonesia, the halal tourism means that tourists can enjoy and experience those traditional and halal habits of locals. The Jakarta Post named two of the examples to eating of eggs from horseshoe crabs or participate in the ritual of mabbaca-baca—prayer reading with serving of special dishes in Sulawesi during the holy month of Ramadan. (AP)
