Making Quang Ninh a Halal tourist destination

Halal tourism, also known as Muslim-friendly tourism, is becoming one of the strong development trends globally, leading to an increasing demand for relaxation and cultural experiences of the Muslim community. With an open economy and stable environment, Vietnam, especially Quang Ninh, is deeply integrating into the Halal value chain, aiming to become a tourist destination that is friendly to the culture and needs of Muslim guests.

Tourists experience Halal cuisine in Ha Long City.

As one of the key tourist destinations in Vietnam, Quang Ninh is not only famous for the world natural wonder of Ha Long Bay, but also possesses a modern transportation infrastructure system, tourism infrastructure and a unique, open and friendly culture. With the mindset of seeking new markets and keeping up with the general trend, Quang Ninh considers Halal tourism as one of the key markets. Therefore, at the end of May, Ha Long University coordinated with the Institute of South Asian, West Asian and African Studies under the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences to organize an international conference on "Developing Quang Ninh into one of the leading Muslim-friendly tourist destinations in Vietnam".

At the conference, Mr. Kohdayar Marri, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan to Vietnam, shared: Pakistan is a country with a large Muslim community, with more than 95% of the population following Islam. We are not only an important Islamic cultural center in South Asia, but also one of the pioneering countries in developing Halal tourism, friendly to Muslim tourists around the world . Therefore, when I came to Quang Ninh, I realized that you can completely build and develop the Muslim tourist market. You have modern facilities, the most necessary thing is that you need to provide us with a full place to pray, a friendly tourism environment and the unique foods that we use.

Mr. Ali Akbar Nazari, Ambassador of the Islamic Republic of Iran to Vietnam, also emphasized that to successfully turn Quang Ninh into a Muslim-friendly destination, a number of aspects need to be addressed. In particular, Quang Ninh province needs to focus on training tourism human resources from hotel staff, tour guides to service providers to ensure a deep understanding of the customs, culture and aspirations of Muslims. Along with that, there needs to be a method of promoting multilingual tourism products, digital content and targeted marketing campaigns aimed at key markets with a majority of Muslims such as Malaysia, Indonesia, West Asia and Central Asia.

Ha Long University signed a cooperation agreement with Halal Raja Vietnam Training Company Limited.

The Iranian Ambassador also suggested that, with their experience in the Halal tourism industry, Iranian businesses are willing to cooperate with Quang Ninh province to successfully build and develop a comprehensive Halal tourism ecosystem such as: Training human resources; building units that meet Halal standards and certification processes; promoting Quang Ninh destinations in the Muslim tourist market. In addition, we can strengthen cultural relations, through exhibitions, Halal food festivals and tourism promotion programs that will further enhance Vietnam's attractiveness to Muslim tourists, encouraging more participation between Iran and Vietnam in the tourism sector.

With Muslims accounting for more than 25% of the world's population today, the Halal market is a large and potential market, opening up great opportunities for the development of tourism in Vietnam and Quang Ninh province. In fact, Quang Ninh started preparing conditions to welcome Muslim tourists nearly a year ago. At that time, the province welcomed a delegation of experts from the Conformity Certification Center (Ministry of Science and Technology) to survey the model of "Muslim-friendly tourism". The survey at 9 4-5 star hotels, conditions such as: Kitchen, rooms, facilities serving guests... were carefully assessed to determine the level of readiness to welcome Muslim guests according to Halal standards, at the same time helping Quang Ninh clearly plan a strategy to develop a service system to meet the requirements of this special group of guests. Currently, a number of hotels and restaurants in Ha Long have been carefully prepared to welcome Muslim tourists.

Mr. Raja Mahmood Janjua, owner of a restaurant serving Halal food in Ha Long, shared: Muslim tourists are very interested in destinations like Ha Long and I want to contribute more to the development of Quang Ninh tourism. Before officially opening the restaurant, we have provided Halal food for cruise ships in Ha Long Bay. More and more Muslim tourists are coming and they will be able to enjoy Halal food here. After the restaurant in Bai Chay, I plan to open another Halal restaurant in Tuan Chau.

Quang Ninh is facing a "golden opportunity" to exploit the potential of the Halal tourism market. On February 14, 2023, the Prime Minister issued Decision 10/QD-TTg approving the Project "Strengthening international cooperation to build and develop Vietnam's Halal industry by 2030", opening up a new direction in economic diplomacy, helping to open up the potential Halal market. At the same time, this is also the driving force for Quang Ninh to aim to welcome 25.4 million visitors, including 8.6 million international visitors to Quang Ninh by 2030.

Hoang Quynh

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/dua-quang-ninh-tro-thanh-diem-den-du-lich-halal-3364268.html