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| Source: Crescentrating. The Manila Marriott receives a Crescent Rating of five for halal friendliness. |
The five-star Manila Marriott has become the first premium hotel chain to be rated by Crescentrating, an authority in halal travel, for its halal-friendly services and facilities. CrescentRating awarded the hotel with a rating of five for its halal-friendly services, such as a halal food section in the Marriott Café. The CrescentRating system rates the overall halal-friendliness of hotels on a scale of one to seven, with one being the lowest rating and seven being the highest.
Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating, said, “Marriott are leading the drive from the front and more hotels will be granted a Crescent Rating in the Philippines soon. We predict that this commitment by Marriott will be worth millions of dollars to the local economy over the next few years and will drive visitor arrivals to the country.”
Marriott Hotel Manila is the centrepiece of the mixed-use Resorts World Manila, located directly opposite Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3. A destination in itself, this five-star property is poised to become the Philippines’ most unique and comprehensive destination for MICE.
The hotel currently offers 342 spacious guestrooms and suites and will open the West Wing in 2016, adding an additional 228 rooms. Designed around the needs of modern travellers, each guestroom offers premium Wi-Fi capability, iPod docks and over-sized bathrooms. Mobile check-ins and check-outs, fine linens and Thann amenities add to the experience.
“Marriott Hotel Manila is excited to be a leader in promoting halal friendly services and offerings to the region and beyond. We look forward to extending not only our world class Filipino hospitality to our local, regional and global customers, but also an environment of awareness, sensitivity and exemplary service expected from a multitude of discerning customers," Bruce Winton, General Manager for Marriott Manila said. Marriott Hotel's halal kitchen is halal-certified by the Halal International Chamber of Commerce and Industries of the Philippines (HICCIP).Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating, said, “Marriott are leading the drive from the front and more hotels will be granted a Crescent Rating in the Philippines soon. We predict that this commitment by Marriott will be worth millions of dollars to the local economy over the next few years and will drive visitor arrivals to the country.”
Ratings of the hotels and resorts in the Philippines is part of a series of initiatives recently unveiled by the Philippine Department of Tourism (PDOT) to create a long-term infrastructure that attracts Muslim visitors, especially from the neighbouring ASEAN region and the Middle East.
Travel experts predict these initiatives could be worth millions of dollars to the tourism industry in the country. The Muslim travel market is projected to be worth more than US$200 billion by 2020, according to the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2016 report.
Travel experts predict these initiatives could be worth millions of dollars to the tourism industry in the country. The Muslim travel market is projected to be worth more than US$200 billion by 2020, according to the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2016 report.
PDOT recently partnered with CrescentRating on a series of activities to increase awareness of the availability of halal food, mosques and other Muslim-friendly holiday experiences and facilities in the Philippines. The new drive to attract inbound Muslim tourists is a key strand of its long-term strategy to maximise economic growth in the halal tourism industry, PDOT said.
On 8 April, Tourism Secretary Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr of PDOT launched the Philippine Halal Tourism project. PDOT had worked with National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF), HICCIP and CrescentRating, to prepare and then halal-certify the kitchens and facilities of 43 hotels, resorts, restaurants, and other tourism-related establishments in Manila, Cebu, Boracay, Davao, Bohol, Zamboanga City, General Santos City, Koronadal, Cotabato City, Surigao City, and Siargao Island in under 100 days prior to the launch.
“Less than a year ago today, we decided to stop talking about halal and start doing something about it. This project has been very successful in the sense that it created an awareness, a halal consciousness, among the Filipinos first, and the halal travel market as well,” Jimenez Jr said at the time.“The best and most important welcome to the visitors is with food. And if you are not halal, then there is a very important segment of society in the world that you are not extending a proper welcome to.”
PDOT has set its sights on seeking a larger slice of the global halal tourism market. Citing Crescentrating data Secretary Jimenez shared, “..the Philippines is one of the countries in Southeast Asia that is determined to partake 20% to 25% of the US$200 billion global halal market. The market is already there, with arrivals from Malaysia, for one, growing at double-digit rate. The only thing that is wanting is capacity.”
Secretary Yasmin Lao of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) lauded the PDOT’s commitment to advancing the halal industry, given that Jimenez has brought the Halal Tourism Project to fruition in less than 100 days. “I strongly believe that The Halal Tourism Project will lead towards a way (where) Muslim-Filipinos feel that they are so very much part of this country,” she said, adding that halal will be a game changer in terms of economic development of Muslim-Filipinos.
HICCIP is the official halal certification body in the country recognised by the NCMF to spearhead the local accreditation of participating halal establishments, while CrescentRating is a Singapore-based authority on Muslim travel recognised for its independent rating and accreditation standard worldwide.
“We commend Manila Marriott Hotel for being the first premium hotel chain to be rated for its halal friendly services and for joining us in making our brand of welcome special, through food that is proper and acceptable to our countrymen and friends around the world,” Jimenez added.
The Philippines has more than 7,000 islands and offers a unique travel experience with beautiful coastlines, lush mountain ranges and bustling city centres. The country is in close proximity to the large Muslim populations of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, and welcomes approximately 566,000 visitors from the Middle East, parts of ASEAN, as well as India and Israel annually.
The MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2016, the most comprehensive research that has been released on the sector, revealed that in 2015, 117 million Muslims travelled, representing 10% of the entire travel economy. Philippines was ranked 46th on the GMTI 2016 destination list.
From US$2.43 billion in tourism earnings in 2008, the country’s tourism receipts have grown to US$5 billion in 2015. This makes the tourism industry the third-largest dollar-earning sector in the economy, after the semiconductor and BPO sectors. Tourism accounts for one in every ten jobs in the economy, or 12.7% of total employment according to the Philippines Statistical Authority.
“Less than a year ago today, we decided to stop talking about halal and start doing something about it. This project has been very successful in the sense that it created an awareness, a halal consciousness, among the Filipinos first, and the halal travel market as well,” Jimenez Jr said at the time.“The best and most important welcome to the visitors is with food. And if you are not halal, then there is a very important segment of society in the world that you are not extending a proper welcome to.”
PDOT has set its sights on seeking a larger slice of the global halal tourism market. Citing Crescentrating data Secretary Jimenez shared, “..the Philippines is one of the countries in Southeast Asia that is determined to partake 20% to 25% of the US$200 billion global halal market. The market is already there, with arrivals from Malaysia, for one, growing at double-digit rate. The only thing that is wanting is capacity.”
Secretary Yasmin Lao of the National Commission on Muslim Filipinos (NCMF) lauded the PDOT’s commitment to advancing the halal industry, given that Jimenez has brought the Halal Tourism Project to fruition in less than 100 days. “I strongly believe that The Halal Tourism Project will lead towards a way (where) Muslim-Filipinos feel that they are so very much part of this country,” she said, adding that halal will be a game changer in terms of economic development of Muslim-Filipinos.
HICCIP is the official halal certification body in the country recognised by the NCMF to spearhead the local accreditation of participating halal establishments, while CrescentRating is a Singapore-based authority on Muslim travel recognised for its independent rating and accreditation standard worldwide.
“We commend Manila Marriott Hotel for being the first premium hotel chain to be rated for its halal friendly services and for joining us in making our brand of welcome special, through food that is proper and acceptable to our countrymen and friends around the world,” Jimenez added.
The Philippines has more than 7,000 islands and offers a unique travel experience with beautiful coastlines, lush mountain ranges and bustling city centres. The country is in close proximity to the large Muslim populations of Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, and welcomes approximately 566,000 visitors from the Middle East, parts of ASEAN, as well as India and Israel annually.
The MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2016, the most comprehensive research that has been released on the sector, revealed that in 2015, 117 million Muslims travelled, representing 10% of the entire travel economy. Philippines was ranked 46th on the GMTI 2016 destination list.
From US$2.43 billion in tourism earnings in 2008, the country’s tourism receipts have grown to US$5 billion in 2015. This makes the tourism industry the third-largest dollar-earning sector in the economy, after the semiconductor and BPO sectors. Tourism accounts for one in every ten jobs in the economy, or 12.7% of total employment according to the Philippines Statistical Authority.