Abu Dhabi: Entrepreneurs target growing Islamic tourism market

Filed in Middle East & Africa, Travel & Hospitality on 25/04/2010 with no comments

Angela Shah

Islamic tourism is on the rise, leading a new generation of entrepreneurs across the region to create a range of services aimed at Muslims with the travel bug.

The homepage of Irhal.com – the word “irhal” in Arabic means “to go away” – is awash with suggestions typical of a travel website: top destinations and places to stay, eat and shop.

But delve a little deeper and you will find lists of halal restaurants in Paris, Beijing and New York.

While Muslims once had no choice but to look the other way as they stayed in hotels where alcohol or pork was served at the next table, they can now choose to stay in more culturally sensitive accommodations.

Listed hotels have restaurants that serve halal food, segregated swimming pools and prayer rooms alongside conference facilities.

“We want to make it clear that practising Islam in the West is possible without fear,” said Irfan Ahmad, who runs Irhal.com from its offices in Dubai Media City. “We facilitate this by providing information on prayer timings and halal restaurants.”

Last month, Karim Saad launched halaltrip.com out of Vienna with the same objectives. Both entrepreneurs seek to target the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims – about 25 per cent of the world’s population.

Islamic tourism is still a niche business in hospitality but analysts say it is growing.

The roots of tourism aimed at Muslims began not in the hospitality industry but in the financial world, said Chiheb ben Mahmoud, the senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels for the MENA region.

“The idea was to provide investors with Sharia-compliant investment products in hospitality,” Mr ben Mahmoud said. “There were those who wanted to invest in hospitality but did not feel comfortable because of the alcohol, as well as the general style of the product.”

Mr Saad said a Turkish version of halaltrip.com should be available in a few weeks, while an Arabic one should launch in June.