Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Regulating Accommodation Establishments
In the OIC Member Countries
3
important, important, neutral and not important. The following graph shows the distribution
of responses.
Regulation by an MFT Accommodation Standard Importance Rating (in percentages)
How important is it for various Muslim-friendly services to be regulated by an MFT accommodation
standard?”
Source: DinarStandard
The process of developing MFT standards: It is similar to the process used to develop
conventional quality standards, with steps including; engaging stakeholders, defining scope,
building awareness, and developing inspection and certification capabilities. MFT standards
can build on the successes of other “Halal” sectors, such as Halal food. A few MFT standards
have emerged to date. Within the OIC countries, governments typically develop the MFT
standards, as in the case of Malaysia. In the non-OIC countries, Islamic organizations have led
the MFT standards’ development efforts, as in the case of Croatia. In some instances, MFT
standards are set by private organizations, such as the CrescentRating standard. The
following section presents a general review of MFT standards.
Responsible Bodies for Developing and Implementing MFT regulations: There are
different players involved in the process of development and implementation of existing MFT
standards, including government bodies, local, regional, and international organizations, and
private entities. The following table summarizes the efforts of the various bodies that have
created MFT standards.
6
6
5
4
6
3
3
2
4
3
2
1
2
2
1
2
18
14
12
12
8
10
10
10
8
8
8
7
6
5
5
4
1
24
14
21
11
14
18
15
21
8
12
19
10
15
14
13
12
2
21
17
20
21
21
20
20
29
16
19
27
21
26
21
20
28
13
31
49
42
53
51
48
53
38
65
57
44
61
51
58
61
55
83
Dedicated prayer room
Separate beach for women
Prayer mat in rooms
No alcohol served in hotel
Dedicated pool timings for women
Jumaa (Friday) prayers in congregation
No adult channels in rooms
Staff wears modest clothes
No alcohol stocked in the hotel room
Separate pool for women
Bidet or handheld sprayer in bathrooms
Separate spa facilities for women
Family-friendly entertainment
Separate gym for women
Qibla direction in rooms
Offering Ramadan services
Halal Food
Not Important Neutral Important Very Important Extremely Important