Dry hotels are losing 30% on the bottom line |Hotelier Middle East by Hotelier Middle East Staff, Thursday, September 16 2010

According to this report, Hotels loose 30% on their profits margins, when they chose not to serve Alcohol in the Hotel. Some Hotel managers interviewed in the report say that this can never be made up with any other activities in the hotel (Assume what is meant here as 30% drop is the drop in the profit margins as a percentage)

It will be good to do some more research on the subject. There are many restaurants especially in Asia which have gone "Halal" and then increased their revenue. They continue to expand their Halal outlets !

As far as Crescentrating for Hotels; being an alcohol free Hotel is one of the minimum requirements for the Hotel to be granted a Crescentrating of 6 or 7.

Read the full article here

Hotels choose halal to woo Muslim tourists | Business Daily (Africa) by WANGUI MAINA, Thursday, September 16 2010

According to this report, countries like Kenya may be looking at getting some properties as Halal Friendly.

According to a Travel agent there, Mr Mohammed Jamaa of Sagal Travel, there is demand for this kind of travel and it is gaining popularity.

Somehowe most of these articles seems to focus on "seperate areas for men and women".  In reality, in our rating this is only looked at when we look at granting a Crescentrating of 7 to a Hotel.

Read the full article here

What's the appeal of a halal holiday? on myTelegraph By Annabel Kantaria September 15th, 2010.

Interesting article on "Halal Holidays".  However, according to the author, there still seems to be some confusion among some people, that somehow providing these (mostly family friendly !) services and facilities is going to make the destinations "segregate Muslims from non-Muslims on holiday."

Read the full article by myTelegraph here

Similar article on BBC sometime ago prompted us to write a little bit more of what we believe "Halal Friendly Travel" is all about and how it helps bringing people.

You can read that article here.

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Planet Islamic

by Joanne Bladd and Claire Ferris-Lay  Thursday, 09 September 2010

"My generation, we were worried to show our religion openly. My son and my daughters, it doesn't even cross their minds. They want halal products and they are absolutely happy to ask for them. This generation is not afraid," says Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of Crescent Rating, which ranks hotels worldwide by their ‘halal-friendliness'.

Read the full article here

Kerjasama saling lengkapi khidmat kedua-dua pihak memenuhi keperluan pelanggan Islam

Oleh
Rosebi Mohd Sah

CRESCENTRATING, syarikat dalam talian yang menilai tahap kemudahan hotel-hotel antarabangsa bagi keperluan pelanggan Islam berpadu tenaga untuk bekerjasama dengan syarikat Melayu setempat, Wellcare Medical & Executive Concierge Services, baru-baru ini.

Read the full article here

Despite being a country with a strong Islamic heritage, the Maldives' growth as a destination of sun, sand and the occasional alcoholic beverage highlights the more internationally focused-nature of the nation's secluded luxury resorts.

However, in trying to cater for an increasingly diverse number of tourist needs and demands, one Islamic travel expert believes the Maldives can widen its niche market appeal by becoming a "halal friendly" destination, without losing out on its established core-markets.

Read the full article here

Fazal from Crescentrating did a live interview on Halal Friendly Travel on Radio Australia's Connect Asia program on the 27th August 2010. The Connect Asia brings you an hour of news, business reports and analysis from commentators and correspondents. It is hosted by Mr Sen Lam.

You can listen to the Interview with Fazal at the link below. Choose the Program "Connect Asia" and then the "Connect Asia - Program Part 2, 27/08/2010".

The interview starts around 9 minutes in to the program and lasts for about five minutes.

http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/flash/listen/podcasts.htm

You can also listen to the Interview here

Ketika masih menjabat eksekutif perusahaan telekomunikasi, Fazal Bahardeen harus sering keluar kota. Dalam perjalanan itu, ia tidak pernah lupa membawa makanan siap santap. Banyak hotel yang ditinggalinya tidak memiliki restoran bersertifikasi halal bagi wisatawan muslim, seperti dirinya.

Read the full article here (in Bahasa Indonesia)

A recent interview Agence France Presse (AFP) had with Crescentrating was released by AFP yesterday and has been widely covered in the media; both online as well as on print. The main title carried by most articles is "After Islamic food and banking: halal travel".

AFP Interview with Crescentrating

You can find some of the online media coverage below:

Khaleej Times HurriyetChannel News AsiaHindustan TimesDawn (Pakistan)Qatar TribuneZawyaToday, (Singapore)France24MySinChewOman ObserverIttefaq (Bangladesh)Emirates 24/7MSN NewsThe Jakarta GlobeYahoo NewsGoogle Hosted News

Brunei TimesNew Sabah TimesSaigon gpDaily Business Maktoob

Arab Times OnlineThe Peninsular Qatar

The Independent (UK)

Al ArabiyaThe Daily Star (Bangladesh)Saudi GazetteHamariweb (Urdu)The Halal JournalHalalFocus

iafrica Taipei TimesMacau Daily Timesttrweekly

"Crescentrating, site beaucoup plus abouti, n'a guère suscité l'attention des uns et des autres. Jusqu'à ce mois de juin 2010 où le site a été récompensé lors du prestigieux World Halal Forum dans la catégorie « Travel & Hospitality 2010″ (voyage et hospitalité)"

Read more at alkanz.com