Now that almost every country has its doors open to tourists , destinations must be prepared to provide better travel experiences for these visitors , including Muslim travellers who seek halal compliance .

After almost two years of not having Muslim travellers come to their country , some non-Muslim majority destinations might have to witness the closing of many halal restaurants and Muslim-friendly accommodations .

Some business operators might not be able to sustain their businesses as they were heavily dependent on the Muslim travel market . As more borders reopen , this scenario might disrupt the travel experience of Muslim travellers and affect destinations in appealing to a more significant segment of Muslim tourists .

In one of its panel discussions , Halal In Travel Global Summit 2022 observed the significant disruptions in the tourism industry caused by Covid-19 and shed light on how destinations could prepare for the next phase of the Muslim travel market growth .

The insightful session featured Dato ’ Dr Mohmed Razip Haji Hasan , Director-General

In the case of Malaysia , we work very closely with Tourism Malaysia , which has also doubled up the promotion and how to engage with stakeholders using technology . This is a pull and push factor .” — Mohmed Razip

of Islamic Tourism Centre ( ITC ), Malaysia ; Tomás Guerrero , Director of Halal Trade and Marketing Centre , Dubai ; Kaiji Wada , CEO of Career Diversity Inc , Japan and Dr Barbara Ruiz-Bejarano , the Director of The Halal Academy , Spain .

The comeback of the tourism industry

Whilst people can generally observe that the tourism industry is now back to business , there are some signs which can support this statement further . According to Mohmed Razip , these signs can be divided into physical and psychological signs .

“ As for the physical signs , we can see the travel borders have opened , and destinations have eased the entry requirements .

“ The requirement for Covid-19 testing has been lifted slowly , and the quarantine requirement has been relaxed in many parts of the world .

“ In ITC ’ s case , destinations start to reach us , asking for collaboration , input , advice and direction ,” shared Mohmed Razip , adding that people ’ s eagerness to travel despite the price increase is one of the psychological signs the tourism industry is back on track .

Ruiz-Bejarano added that Spain also