November-December 2021
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13 @ Halal Xtra
COVER STORY
Strengthening Islamic healthcare tourism |
IN 2019 , MALAYSIA attracted more than 1.2 million global healthcare travellers . Among them were from Indonesia , Bangladesh , Yemen , Pakistan and Libya .
Tourism , Arts and Culture Minister Dato Sri Nancy Shukri commented : “ Moving past the pandemic , I think we will see travellers prioritising aspects of health , safety , and wellness , and this bodes well for the development of healthcare travel in Malaysia , especially among Muslim travellers who wish for affordable healthcare that abides by their faith-based needs .”
Muslim tourists benefit from the topnotch medical services with facilities
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to match offered . Their medical and wellness experience here in Malaysia is also provided within an environment that is respectful to the faith-based needs of Muslims .
The Islamic Tourism Centre ( ITC ) and Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council ( MHTC ) play a crucial role to bring together these two sectors so that Malaysia can continue to be an attractive destination for healthcare travel .
“ The Ministry is working with ITC and MHTC , the Ministry of Health and associations such as the Association of Malaysian Spas ( AMSPA ).
“ ITC has established several
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standards and frameworks for the Islamic tourism and hospitality sector , and these can be adapted for the medical industry to strengthen our offerings , create confidence in the market , and become an important marketing and branding tool .
“ We are also strategically positioning Malaysia as a global brand to take advantage of the burgeoning global position of medical tourism and demand for aged care facilities . “ Towards this end , we see opportunities for the demand of aged care wellness villages and Malaysia as an exclusive retirement destination .”
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vast array of products and services .
“ Industry players across all these sectors of the economy have plenty of opportunities to participate in and benefit from the Islamic tourism economy .”
“ By consciously catering to the needs of the Muslim tourist market , it naturally drives up end-to-end demand for products and services that are Shariah-compliant in areas of banking and finance , medical , entertainment , food , and others . Muslim-friendly tourism and hospitality has the capacity to step up the development of the Halal economy and become a catalyst for products and services that cater to the needs of this market .”
MOTAC also plans to brand Malaysia as the top venue for Islamic contemporary lifestyle events through conferences , fashion shows , art exhibitions and gastronomy festivals .
“ This will help grow the Islamic tourism and the business events industries , making space for more Malaysians to participate in the tourism economy .”
Nancy also expects Islamic tourism to attract more Muslim tourists , open doors to a broader youth market , and invigorate both traditional education and edutourism .
MOTAC supports this initiative through the National Tourism Policy 2020-2030 , in which Youth Tourism received refreshed focus , emphasising educational forms of tourism that are exciting and memorable .
Mosque tourism
ITC sparked interest and initiated the development of a potentially attractive tourism product , mosques .
Nancy commented : “ What ’ s interesting is that this initiative brings together the involvement of mosques in Malaysia , which has always been associated with places of worship rather than tourist attractions .”
Through Mosque Tourism , Malaysia can present an exciting narrative about Malaysia ’ s history and heritage , architectural influences , involvement of the surrounding community , the Muslim way of life in multi-cultural Malaysia , and so on .
In past years , ITC ’ s collaboration with stakeholders , including the Department of Islamic Development
Minister of Tourism , Arts and Culture Malaysia , Dato Sri Nancy Shukri launched the Muslim-Friendly Accommodation Recognition logo in September , 2020 at Mövenpick Hotel & Convention Centre KLIA .
Our goals are to establish Malaysia as the global centre for Muslim- Friendy hotel certification , to be the centre of reference for Muslim- Friendly tourism , to raise the service quality of Muslimfriendly tourism and hospitality , and to become a leading destination for Islamic contemporary lifestyle offerings as well as healthcare and wellness services and solutions .”
Malaysia ( JAKIM ), has nurtured this interest by organising the National Imam Roundtable Conferences as far back as 2016 .
ITC also commissioned a study on Mosque Tourism and raised awareness on Mosque Tourism both from supply and demand .
And over the years , ITC and JAKIM identified mosques nationwide as potential tourism products .
“ Some of these mosques even have very active tourism programmes that recruit and train volunteer tour guides , besides showing Malaysia as a diverse nation of rich culture and heritage .”
Strengthening Islamic Tourism
To further strengthen and develop Malaysia ’ s Muslim tourism potential , ITC and JAKIM signed a Memorandum of Understanding ( MoU ).
The MoU focuses on human capital development in the Islamic Tourism industry and enhancing Islamic Tourism-related programmes and curriculum in tertiary education , involving Institut Pengajian Islam dan Dakwah Sabah ( IPDAS ).
“ It will see the provision of training services by ITC to IPDAS ’ academic staff and industry players to enhance their understanding of Islamic Tour- ism and Muslim-Friendly Tourism and Hospitality ( MFTH ),” explained Nancy .
She added it also included holding seminars on curriculum development and conducting research in the mentioned fields .
ITC has also established training modules and programmes on understanding the Islamic Tourism market and commissioned a wide range of research and studies on Islamic Tourism , which is available as reference through their Islamic Tourism Journals .
To encourage young people and start-up entrepreneurs to understand the potential of the Muslim tourist market and Islamic Tourism as a viable business to venture into , ITC has created a seminar platform .
“ It is called Seminar Keusahawanan dan Kepimpinan Pelancongan Islam ( Islamic Tourism Entrepreneurship and Leadership Seminar - ITELS ), held online on Oct 21 .
“ We hope these seminars will spark ideas among Malaysians to create products and services for the market . It ’ s a platform to learn about the standards in Islamic Tourism , how to tackle this market , as well as to develop business acumen and financial savviness .” – Xtra