Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Regulating Accommodation Establishments
In the OIC Member Countries
56
system. As an option, it was suggested that accommodation providers who adhere to the
MFHS could receive benefits like additional tax breaks, etc. 130
Non-Muslim Guests’ Perceptions
Many accommodation providers mention the potential risk of alienating non-Muslim guests
and losing income and bookings as one of their biggest fears in participating in a Muslim-
friendly standard.131 Even though there is conclusive research documenting the effects of
adopting Muslim-friendly standards on accommodation establishments’ profits, the
subjective fears of the industry are widespread. 132 To overcome this fear, in-depth empirical
research need to be conducted to look into the effects of adopting Muslim-friendly
accommodation standards on accommodation establishments. Some hospitality industry
players also mentioned their apprehension at mixing religion with the general business of
providing accommodation. 133
Global vs. Regional/National Standards
There is a no consensus on whether one global or several regional/national Muslim-friendly
standards would be better. While one global standard has a better recognition potential and
can be uniformly promoted 134, it might be impossible to implement due to cultural
differences. Even in the case of Muslim majority countries, it can be quite hard to overcome
political and cultural differences to formulate a global standard. 135 A challenge would also be
which organization or international body would overlook the implementation of such a global
standard, as it would always make a standard a political tool of some kind. 136 On the other
hand, while regional/national standards would be easier to adapt to national/regional needs,
their localized nature would not guarantee the global recognition a uniform standard may
have.
Gender Separated Facilities
The separation of swimming pools or gyms for men and women is a big challenge for
accommodation providers especially for operational hotels where there are no such facilities
in place which can make it quite costly to if not impossible to incorporate them. Some
accommodation providers address this challenge by providing different hours for men and
women for the use of the swimming pool or gym facilities.137 Even though many standards
require separated facilities, many travellers expressed their discontent with this practice.
Families or groups travelling together, including Muslim guests, may want to enjoy the
facilities with each other. The fact that guests are objecting to having only gender separated
130 Interview conducted for the Malaysia case study, University of Malaya, October 2016
131 Interview conducted for the Malaysia case study, Perhentian Island Resort, October 2016
132 Interview conducted for the Malaysia case study, MATTA, October 2016
133 Interview conducted for the Malaysia case study, Perhentian Island Resort, October 2016
134 Interview conducted for the Malaysia case study, Islamic Tourism Centre, October 2016
135 Interview conducted for the Malaysia case study, Islamic Tourism Centre, October 2016
136 Ponte, S. & Gibbon, P. (2011). Governing through standards: origins, drivers and limitations. Published by: Basingstoke:
Palgrave Macmillan.
137 Battour, M., et al. (2010). The impact of destination attributes on Muslim tourist's choice, International Journal of
Tourism Research, Vol. 16, Issue 6, p. 527-540.