HOTEL EXPERTS CONFIRMED FOR FIRST INTERNATIONAL HALAL TOURISM CONFERENCE
Hotel experts from all over the world will be speaking at the world s first-ever international halal tourism conference next month.
Almasalla,Gate Arab Tourism News- The Halal Tourism Conference 2014, which is being held in Spain, has confirmed a diverse speaker line-up from around the globe to discuss the opportunities and challenges that halal tourism presents for the industry.
With a market capitalisation of $140 billion in 2013 and increasing year-by-year, halal tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the industry and accounted for almost 13% of global travel expenditures. This figure is expected to grow to $192 billion in 2020.
The speakers list now includes hotel experts Chris Nader, Vice President, Development, Shaza Hotels, an affiliate of Kempinski Hotels and Hani Lashin, Group General Manager, Al Jawhara Group of Hotels.
Tasneem Mahmood, Director of CM Media, the organiser of the conference, said: “We are delighted to announce our speaker line-up especially our hotel experts.
“Both Chris and Hani are renowned in their field and will bring an educated presence to the conference and knowledge forum and will perfectly complement our other speakers.
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“The conference will also provide the perfect opportunity for those who attend to facilitate business partnerships and knowledge sharing.
“We firmly believe the Halal Tourism Conference 2014 will bring about a revolution in the industry across the world.”
Chris Nader, who will speak on the topic “Halal Hotels: How inclusive? Exploring successes and challenges”, said: “Our objective is to grow our brand in all the relevant countries of the Silk Route, as well as countries where our guests travel to extensively and can’t find hotels that cater to their needs.
“Shaza Hotels is the only international five star brand that fills this gap in the market.”
Hani Lashin added that halal friendly hotels would increase the appeal of a country to all those looking for a family-oriented holiday irrespective of their religion.
He said: “Halal friendly tourism is not limited to Muslim travellers only. It is a concept where the safety parameters are considered and taken care in all possible aspects for the guest stay.
“It is a major and remarkable step by the Government of Spain, promoting Halal tourism concept as it will attract more family travellers.”
Other speakers confirmed for the conference include tourism ministers, halal tourism experts and global marketing specialists.
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These include:
Zulkifly MD Said, Director General Islamic Tourism Centre, Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Malaysia,
Fazal Bahardeen, Founder of Islamic hospitality ratings agency Crescentrating
Elnur Seyidli, co-founder of HalalBooking.com,
Rafi-Uddin Shikoh, CEO and Managing Director of Islamic industry research experts DinarStandard
Anas Kasak, Director of global marketing agency McCann Reach.
The two-day event, which is being sponsored by Turkish Airlines, will host around 500 delegates and exhibitors from the Middle East, Far East and Europe including those currently active in halal tourism and countries looking for help to break into this sector.
It includes tourism boards, tour agencies, tour operators, restaurants, media, hotels and airlines. The event will also feature seminars from industry experts, workshops, networking sessions and an exhibition
The event, which is being hosted in Andalucia, Spain, aims to equip countries with market intelligence, industry forecasts and trends to understand how to market to the lucrative Muslim consumer and benefit commercially.
The Halal Tourism Conference is being held on 22 and 23 September 2014, hosted in Andalucia, Spain.
The conference will also see the launch of the Muslim Travel Index Europe 2014 which uses travel research from residents from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Malaysian residents.
The Travel Index Europe 2014 looks at the attitudes and behaviour of majority Muslim populations to tourism in the future and their experiences of countries they have already visited in Europe.
The Halal Tourism Conference will be followed by a two day tour of the region of Andalucia to provide businesses with a live case study of a region that is becoming more Muslim friendly and is actively working to meet the needs of Muslim travellers.
