New Hospitality Standard for Hotels for Muslim travellers

 New hospitality standard for hotels to make Muslim travellers feel at home 

Salam Standard enables  Muslim travellers to choose Muslim-friendly accommodation. (Image credit: Ardenvis/iStock)

To capitalise on this growing niche sector Malaysia based hotel meta-search website, Lagisatu, recently launched Salam Standard that it bills as “the world’s first online hotel reference tool dedicated to Muslim travellers”.

Salam Standard creator and Lagisatu Travel’s CEO and co-founder, Faeez Fadhlillah, said that with the spend by Muslim travellers expected to rise to more more than US$233 billion in 2020, accounting for for 25% of total global travel expenditure, “there is a need to provide this influential group of travellers with tourism products that make them feel at home.”

He said he came up with the standard based on the feedback of 50,000 Muslim travellers from around the world.

“Salam Standard provides Muslim travellers with a one-of-a-kind reference tool enabling them to choose Muslim-friendly accommodation, which adheres to their Islamic principles.”

The standard is divided into three categories – gold, silver and bronze that applies to specific standards of the hotels.

Bronze-standard hotels must have Muslim prayer mats available and Kibblat directions (signs pointing to Mecca) in the room or be made available; silver-rated properties must also provide a list of halal restaurants nearby and there must be no alcohol in guestroom mini bars; accommodation with gold status must also offer halal food certified by a recognised certification body.

According to Faeez, more than 10,000 properties worldwide have already joined the Salam Standard initiative including AccorHotels, Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, Rotana Hotels & Resorts, Anantara Hotels & Resorts, Rixos Hotels, Archipelago Hotel Group, Tauzia Hotel Management, and Berjaya Hotels & Resorts.

He added that “biggest information provider of Muslim travel content” over the next few years if more Muslim-focused travel products and services are added.

“Our aim is to encourage hotel operators to offer more facilities for Muslim travellers.”