Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Regulating Accommodation Establishments
In the OIC Member Countries
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4.3 Croatia
Croatia’s World Halal Day, which was held in November 2016 to promote Halal Tourism, may
have brought more attention to its MFT sector but its efforts in this area predate this event by
several years. The Center for Halal Quality Certification, which is the only Halal certification
body in Croatia, was established by the Islamic community in Croatia as a specialized
institution for certifying Halal products and services in the Republic of Croatia. It developed
the “Rulebook of Certifying and Categorization of Hospitality Services, Travel Agencies and
Health Facilities According to Requirements of Halal Quality” in 2010. Since then there have
been two revisions, one in 2012 and another in 2014. The establishment of this Rulebook
precedes the establishment of Malaysia’s MFHS and SMIIC and TSE’s Hospitality Standard.
The development of the Rulebook was prompted by the request of one of the hotels to
become certified. At that time, the Center for Halal Quality Certification was mainly focused
on Halal food certification but not on other aspects of the accommodation business. In
addition to hospitality guidelines, the Rulebook also covers travel agencies and includes
guidelines on which places agencies can take their Muslim clients to ,for example they are
required to avoid taking their clients on vineyard tours, and which hotels to accommodate
them in, for example in Halal certified hotels.
In order to encourage hotels to become Muslim-friendly and to obtain the certification, the
Center for Halal Quality Certification cooperates with the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Chamber of Commerce and the Hotel Association. Through the Hotel
Association, the Center holds regular seminars to educate hotels on the benefits and
requirements of the certification. Currently, there are 14 hotels in Croatia that are certified by
this standard, and seven in the process of becoming certified. The standard was established to
benefit from the potential of Muslim-Friendly Travel.
4.3.1 Standard Development Process
To develop the Standard, a representative from the Center for Halal Quality Certification
visited hotels to observe operations to enable him to prepare the standard based on actual
hotel operations. Hospitality services and tourism laws, including the Law of Hospitality
Services in Croatia and the Law of Service Provision in Croatia, were referred to in the process
of preparing the draft “Rulebook”. Croatia’s existing Halal food standard, Halal Standard HRN
BAS 1049 2010, which is registered with the Croatian Standard Institute was also referred to
during the draft’s preparation. The development of the Rulebook lasted six months.
The Center for Halal Quality Certification sought the assistance of the Ministry of Tourism,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and hotel associations in apprising hotels of the standard and
encouraging them to become certified.
4.3.2 Requirements of the Standard
Croatian law does not allow hotels to claim being Halal or Muslim-friendly without
certification; consumer protection laws make it illegal for a hotel to claim that it is Halal or