Muslim Friendly Tourism:
Regulating Accommodation Establishments
In the OIC Member Countries
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C. Certification Process
There are several key steps, which governments follow in establishing the certification
process for mainstream and MFT hospitality standards. However, there are certain gaps and
opportunities for improvement for the MFT certification process. They are addressed in full
detail in the recommendations section, but are summarized in the table below.
Table 19: Certification Process Steps for Government Standards
Mainstream Standards MFT Standards Gaps & Opportunities for
Improvement in MFT Standards
Steps  Self-evaluation against
criteria
 Submit application to
certifying body
 Pay fees
 Certifying body audits
facility and prepares audit
report
 If facility passes the audit,
it is awarded certification
 If accommodation facility
does not pass the criteria,
it implements corrective
action and is re-audited
and if it passes receives
certification
 Mystery guest inspections
are administered ad hoc
 Certification is renewed
annually, every two,
three, or five years
depending on certificate
 Submit application
 Complete
documentation
 Certifier trains internal
auditors
 Implement Halal
standard requirements
 Audit verification
invitation
 Certification audit
 If satisfactory, certifier
drafts audit report
 Audit verification by
verification commission
 If requirements are
fulfilled, Halal certificate
is provided
 In case audit result is
unsatisfactory, hotel
removes deficiencies
and is re-audited
 Standard setting body often also
provides certification which is a
conflict of interest
 Certifiers often also provide
training to accommodation
facilities, which is a conflict of
interest
 A Standard Operating
Procedures (SOP) document for
certifiers is often missing
 Self-evaluation as an initial step
 Administering mystery guest to
monitor compliance
 Training on internal MFT
compliance should be extended
to all staff level, with depth
suited to each person’s
responsibility towards MFT.
Training should not just be
limited to auditors.
Source: DinarStandard
5.2.2 Private Standards
A. How standards are developed
There are several key steps, which private entities follow in establishing mainstream
hospitality standards, which when compared to the steps for establishing MFT standards,
highlight a number of gaps and opportunities for improvement for MFT standards.
Some of the gaps are similar to the ones identified in developing government standards such
as ensuring all stakeholders are involved, while others are unique to private standards such
as obtaining government buy-in. The full list of gaps and opportunities in establishing private
standards is below.