Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Regulating Accommodation Establishments
In the OIC Member Countries
36
The Muslim traveler survey, which was conducted within the framework of the previous
study, highlighted the importance of several MFT accommodation features for Muslim
travelers. This led to the need to understand whether Muslim travelers are keen on having
some form of a standard that allows them to compare how different accommodation
establishments meet their faith-related needs. In the framework of the current study, a
second traveler survey was conducted to establish the relative importance Muslim travelers
assign to having the different MFT services within an MFT standard. The survey responses,
shown in the following graph, clearly highlight that Muslim travelers value a variety of MFT
features, and also believe that many of these features should be included in a possible MFT
accommodation standard. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of Muslim-friendly
services being regulated by a Muslim-friendly accommodation standard (that the hotel is
certified to offer these services). The services, being rated, included seventeen items, outlined
in the graph below. A 5-point scale was used to rate the importance of the various Muslim-
friendly services being regulated by a Muslim-friendly accommodation standard. The scale
included the following categories: extremely important, very important, important, neutral
and not important. The graph below illustrates the response to this question.
Figure 8: 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 previous chart clearly shows that respondents attach great importance to Halal food
being regulated by a Muslim-friendly accommodation standard, with 99% of respondents
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