Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Regulating Accommodation Establishments
In the OIC Member Countries
43
elements into conventional standards, such as in the case of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab
Emirates. Local standard setting organizations may set MFT standards as in the case of
Standards Malaysia and may also conduct certification in some cases as in the case of the
Turkish Standards Institution.
Local/Regional/International Organizations: In several the non-OIC countries, local
Islamic organizations often fill a gap in evaluating and certifying MFT offerings, such as in the
case of Croatia and Taiwan. In Croatia, the Center for Halal Quality Certification works on
developing MFT standards, reviewing applications from hotels, and training and inspecting
them.93 Within the the OIC, the Standards and Metrology Institute for the Islamic Countries
[SMIIC] works with the OIC governments and other local and international organizations on
harmonizing standards.
Private Entities: Some private enterprises have developed MFT standards, as in the case of
CrescentRating and Salam Standard. Both standards are voluntary and rely mainly on hotels’
self-evaluations. CrescentRating relies also on third party certification bodies to verify Halal
food elements per local standards.94
In the context of this study, accommodation sector survey respondents were asked which
global/regional bodies should be responsible for setting up a Muslim-friendly hospitality
services standard, 31% of accommodation sector respondents believed national bodies
should be involved while 19% to 20% cited regional standardization bodies and Islamic
countries based bodies. Non-profit hospitality sector organizations and private
enterprises were also cited by 11% of the respondents. It is worth noting that 45% of the
accommodation sector respondents mentioned that they do not know which body should
be responsible for setting up a Muslim-friendly hospitality services standard.
In the framework of the government sector survey, government officials were asked
which global/regional bodies should be responsible for setting up a Muslim-friendly
hospitality services standard; they were divided mainly between those who preferred
national and Islamic countries bodies such as SMIIC. Few preferred regional
standardization organizations.
93 Croatia. Centre for Halal Quality Certification. Regulations on Certification and Categorization: Accommodation Facilities
(as Required, Halal Quality). Zagreb: Centre for Halal Quality Certification, 2015. Print.
94 "Halal Certification Bodies." World's Leading Authority on Halal Travel – CrescentRating. Crescent Rating, 2016. Web.
17 Oct. 2016.