Over 140 restaurants and 50 hotels in Hong Kong have received Halal-certification or international Muslim tourism accreditation, the Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) said on Monday.
So far, 53 hotels, five attractions and exhibition venues have successfully applied for and received the accreditation from “CrescentRating” — an international Muslim tourism certifier, while over 140 local restaurants in Hong Kong are halal-certified.
HKTB deputy executive director Becky Ip Ching-tak said the board has been developing Hong Kong as a Muslim-friendly tourism environment since the beginning of last year and is glad to see more tourism-related businesses are seizing the opportunities arising from the Muslim market by applying for Muslim-friendly accreditation and introducing halal-certified edible souvenirs.
“These initiatives further enrich Muslim visitors’ experience and options for catering, accommodation, and shopping when they are visiting Hong Kong,” she said.
Ip revealed that the board is producing a series of new training materials for frontline tourism practitioners, such as simple greetings, customs, dietary requirements, attire to daily life situations.
“[This aims] to deepen their understanding towards Muslim culture and how they can provide hospitality to Muslim travelers. In the future, we will also step up promotions of Hong Kong’s tourism in Muslim visitor source markets,” she said.
Last month, HKTB hosted over 20 Muslim travel trade representatives for an invited trip to introduce the city’s latest Muslim-friendly travel facilities and tourism products.
A total of 22 representatives from Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, Hong Kong’s Southeast Asian visitor source markets, visited the city from February 17 to 20.
During the visit, they tried authentic quality Chinese cuisines with Halal-certifications, including crab roe noodles, while tasting Hong Kong-baked handmade cookies, such as palmiers with salted eggs, and Hong Kong-style dim sum.
The HKTB-organized trip also took the delegation to Ocean Park, meeting with giant pandas “An An” and “Ke Ke.” Other spots included Hong Kong Disneyland, Ngong Ping 360, the historic fishing village of Tai O, and mosques.
The trade also visited various Muslim-accredited hotels to check out their accommodation facilities and catering services.
A representative from Indonesian travel agency Moslem Tour – Panorama JTB, AB Sadewa, recognized Hong Kong’s readiness to receive visitors from Muslim markets.
“I think the ecosystem of the hotel or the restaurant is ready to receive visitors from our market, especially for the Muslim segment, and they will find Hong Kong has reached a new level as a destination for Muslim travelers,” he said.
Among the hotels with Halal-certification are The Mira Hong Kong, a Tsim Sha Tsui hotel, as well as its sister property Mira Moon on Hong Kong Island, receiving 5 crescents on CrescentRating’s seven-tier system.
To accommodate Muslim travelers during the holy month of Ramadan, which is now underway, some hotels, including the Mira, now have rooms with Mecca direction pointers, Quran and prayer rugs, while some launched special Ramadan buffets.
Head of hotels and serviced apartments of Miramar Group Alexander Wassermann said the company is proud to receive the recognition.
“We are also delighted to share that 100 percent of our employees have received pre-required training on halal food and halal travel practices implemented at our hotels. Our Team looks forward to welcoming more Muslim guests from around the world and we aim to be the preferred Chinese dining destination in Hong Kong for the local Muslim community,” he said.
(Jamie Liu)
