IN a bid to harness a better position for the country’s tourism, especially in Davao Region, through aligning programs for Halal tourism, the Universal Center in partnership with the Mindanao Islamic Chamber of Commerce is set to stage the Philippine Halal Tourism Expo 2016 slated on April 22 to 24 at the Abreeza Mall in Davao City.
The expo is part of the Department of Tourism (DOT) campaign under Philippine Halal Tourism Project and Crescent rating program of the office of DOT Assistant Secretary Arturo Boncato Jr.
"Ultimately this is aimed to gather industry stakeholder and discuss how we can tap the growing and huge opportunities in Halal tourism, one of the fastest growing global tourism concept through aligning our programs to the Halal market,” Marilou Ampuan, chairperson of the Halal committee of the Philippine Tourism Congress and founder of MICC said.
Ampuan said the expo will further position Davao as one of the Halal hubs in Mindanao.
“Will be expecting over 200 participants over 200 participants to grace the event, mostly tourism industry players such as hotels and restaurants with halal product producers and certifiers,” Ampuan said.
Meanwhile, DOT’s nationwide campaign under Philippine Halal Tourism Project and Crescent rating program, which was implemented starting last January will tap 50 major industry players in the tourism sector such as hotels and restaurants to embrace Halal principles and practices within this year.
Of the figure, 10 will be tapped in Davao, 20 in Manila, 10 in Cebu and 10 in Boracay, Aklan.
The project aims to promote inbound destinations attracting market especially tourists who are in Halal, as a way of life.
For the implementation of the project, the tourism department tapped a Singapore-based halal accreditation body, Crescent, to look into the situation of Philippine establishments in relation to Halal tourism.
Crescent rating is the world’s leading authority on Muslim travel connecting an establishment to the Muslim tourists.
The rating is based on the suitability of an establishment as holiday destination, family friendliness, safety with combined percent weight of 40 percent, Muslim friendly services and facilities availability (40 percent) and halal awareness and reach out to Muslims (20 percent).
According to the project primer, the Halal tourism industry global economy value is pegged to double by 2018-2020 at $ 6.4-Trillion with some 150 million Muslim travelers worldwide.