Muslim Friendly Tourism (MFT):
Understanding the Supply and Demand Sides
In the OIC Member Countries
98
Supply Side Analysis (Travel and hospitality services and facilities)
a) Transport terminal services (airports, cruise terminals, railway stations, etc.)
The main airport in Singapore is Changi Airport. Prayer rooms are available in all the
Terminals (1, 2 and 3) within the Transit areas. Although they are multi-faith prayer rooms,
they cater to the requirements of Salaah with wudu facilities and male and female prayer
areas. The directions to the prayer rooms are clearly marked. The only drawback is the
unavailability of prayer rooms in the public area of the terminals. All three terminals have food
outlets in both in the transit and public areas which are certified by the local certificate body
MUIS.
Muslim tourists made some comments on the transport terminals:
- A Singapore tour guide said that he is thankful for Singapore Changi Airport catering to
the needs of the Muslim tourist. It demonstrates warmth to the Muslim traveler.
- A Changi Airport official said that as awareness of the need to cater for Muslims is slowly
growing we have actively sought to cater to their needs.
b) Transport services (airlines, cruises, railways, etc.)
Singapore Airlines, the national carrier of Singapore does cater Halal food. Singapore Airport
Terminal Services Limited (SATS Ltd), is the ground-handling and in-flight catering service
provider at Singapore Changi Airport. SATS has a separate Halal kitchen where food is
prepared for the Muslim traveler.
c) Accommodation services (hotels, resorts, etc.)
Singapore has a wide variety of hotels, offering budget to luxury accommodation. In addition,
some restaurants in hotels now offer halal food. They might not display the Halal logo because
these restaurants could serve alcoholic beverages. A number of Hotel restaurants in Singapore
are beginning to provide Ramadhan services which may include buffet meals to be taken after
iftar. Even some restaurants in five star hotels offer a wide selection of cuisine for the Muslim
traveler in Ramadan.
IE Singapore’s regional director for North Asia Pacific, Mr Lee Hoi Leong commented on the
accommodation services the country offered. He said that Muslim travelers are the largest under-
served niche market for the tourism industry. Multi-ethnic Singapore has an innate capability to
cater to the lifestyle of the Muslim community in a Muslim-minority country.
Mohamed Yusof Hamzah, Director of Business Strategies at Royal Plaza on Scotts based in
Singapore mentioned that the following steps were undertaken to attract the Muslim tourist.
- During Ramadhan, he mentioned that the hotel offers Sahur that starts from 3 am.
- Dates are served at the start of dinner buffets during this period.
- Qurans and Qiblah signs are in each of our 511 rooms, with Prayer room in the Hotel and
Salaah timings available upon request.
He commented further that the small touches make Muslim tourist stay with the hotel more
comfortable.