By Joseph Mayton Bikyamasr  Will less travelers see Egypt’s ancient monuments?

CAIRO: Egypt’s Islamic groups are battling against fears that the  tourism industry could suffer as they gain power in the country. The  Muslim Brotherhood’s political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP)  said they would hold a “Let’s encourage tourism” conference in Cairo to  boost efforts to ensure the tourism sector continues to boom under  their tutelage.

Still, the fears remain, with worries women could be barred from  beaches in bikinis. Much of the worries come from firebrand  ultra-conservative presidential hopeful Hazem Saleh Abu Ismail, who said  recently that he would bar women in bikinis from beaches, and they  could face arrest, if he were elected as the country’s next president.

The Salafist al-Nour party, also announced it was launching a tourism  conference in the southern Egyptian city of Aswan to promote the  industry.

The conferences come on the heels of both parties earning the lion’s  share of votes in the first round of elections for Egypt’s new  parliament.

Last year, some 15 million foreigners visited Egypt, but with the  political and social situation tumultuous, fears are growing in the  country that the tourism sector, a major foreign currency gainer, could  face a downturn.

In line with Abu Ismail’s statements, a number of candidates and  religious scholars have called for covering ancient monuments, banning  alcohol, mixed gender beaches and gambling.

“Certainly, I am worried because my friends and I like to go to the  beach on the weekend and my female friends wear bikinis, so it is  frustrating to see this happening,” said Abeer Yussif, a  Jordanian-Egyptian university student. She told Bikyamasr.com that going  to the beach “is one of our outlets from Cairo and we don’t like to be  told what we can and can’t do.”

On the Muslim Brotherhood’s Facebook page on Saturday, images were  posted of the group’s Supreme Guide Mohamed Badie shaking hands with  foreigners in the historic city of Luxor.

FJP members also visited the ancient Pyramids of Giza on Saturday to  show the “Brotherhood’s support for tourism,” read the Facebook page.

The Nour Party, which garnered some 20 percent of the voting thus  far, hopes their conference will join forces with representatives of the  tourism sector, including operators and hotel officials “in a bid to  support the industry.”

“We do not want to ban tourism. On the contrary, we want revenue from  tourism to multiply,” spokesman Nader Bakkar told the Egyptian  satellite channel CBC on Saturday.

However, Bakkar did allude to the idea of segrgated beaches, which  Yussif and her friends believe would spark outrage among much of the  youth.

“It is wrong and I know that many of us will not stand for turning Egypt into another Saudi Arabia or Iran,” she argued.

“The Nour party does not want to ban beach tourism. But we do want to  see a type of Halal tourism … such as segregation of beaches,” Bakkar  was quoted as saying.

Since the 18 days of protests ousted former President Hosni Mubarak,  the tourism industry and the economic situation facing Egypt has been  hit hard, with fewer foreign visitors arriving to the country and  business in Egypt becoming stagnant.

In the coming months, as parliament is finalized and a clear vision  of Egypt’s future is developed, a better understanding of how tourism  will be affected is likely to come to light. Yussif and her friends hope  little changes in terms of their ability to enjoy a day in the sun, or  take visitors to the ancient sites across the Nile River Valley.

“It is all really speculation right now and we wonder how many  Egyptians would support segregation on beaches and the idea that ancient  monuments should be covered,” she added.

BM

Second Article

The Telegraph

Egypt’s main Islamist parties on Sunday launched separate  conferences aimed at promoting tourism as they scrambled to allay fears  that the lucrative industry is under threat from religious conservatism.

A tourist looks out onto the Red Sea from a beach in Egypt Photo: ALAMY

The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) – the political arm of the influential Muslim Brotherhood – announced a conference in Cairo entitled “Let’s encourage tourism” that brought together industry leaders and party members.

On the Facebook page of the Muslim Brotherhood on Sunday, Supreme Guide Mohammed Badie was shown shaking hands with foreign visitors as he toured the historic city of Luxor.

Members of the FJP also visited the ancient Pyramids of Giza on Sunday to show  the “Brotherhood’s support for tourism,” said the Facebook page.

Al-Nur, which has come second in the polls with more than 20 per cent of votes  so far, said their conference would bring together representatives from tourism chambers, hotels and tour operators “in a bid to support the industry.”

“We do not want to ban tourism. On the contrary, we want revenue from  tourism to multiply,” spokesman Nader Bakkar told the Egyptian  satellite channel CBC on Saturday.

But he also spoke in favour of segregation of the sexes on beaches.

“The Al-Nur party does not want to ban beach tourism. But we do want to see a type of Halal tourism … such as segregation of beaches,” Bakkar said.

The tourism sector was virtually paralysed during 18 days of protests that toppled Mubarak in January and February, and has been struggling to recover since.

Following years of crackdowns under Mubarak, Islamists have since the revolt become increasingly open about their ambitions for an Islamic state, threatening the livelihoods of hundreds of hotels and beaches.

About a thousand employees in the sector demonstrated last Friday to draw attention to their difficulties and the anti-tourist declarations of some Islamists.

The industry is estimated to support about a tenth of the active population.

Mohamed Jinna, CEO of Halal India is trying to assist with raising awareness amongst Halal certifiers internationally to address the issue of the labelling of Halal meals on airlines worldwide. His questions is, why does IATA name Halal meals ‘Muslim meals’ rather that just ‘Halal’?  They call the Jewish meal a ‘Kosher’ meal, and the Hindus can opt for a ‘Vegetarian’ meal, not a ‘Hindu meal’, so why not the ‘Halal meal’ for the Muslims? This would also be a step to ensure that there be some form of Halal certification on it to satisfy the Muslim customer.

Halal India management is working with an Indian legal team to initiate a campaign with Indian Muslims’ associations, leaders, and political parties to file a case to IATA office in India.

The following was a letter produced by Mr Jinna to IATA in India:

RE: Appeal to change the air catering food labelling name from “MOML” (Muslim Meal) to HALAL MEAL”  “HLML “(Permitted Meal).

May the peace be with you, Good day.

This is with reference to our on-board carting services under the auspicious of IATA standard for all the on-flight food & beverages services being provided to the passengers. We recollect that as per the existing categories of food services being practised by different faiths and religious affinities of the travelling passengers are dully recognized in India & worldwide.

We take this opportunity to most sincerely bring to your kind attention that as for as serving the food and beverages as per Muslim Faith and need , it is currently widely accepted and practised worldwide to serve and consume food & beverages under the label “MOML” (Muslim Meal). We most humbly put forward our sincere request to redefine this label “MOML”and to change it to “Halal” Meal. For Kosher meals, KSML meal is used (not ‘Jewish’ Meal) but when it comes to Muslims they code it to MOML (Moslem Meal). This is an open discrimination. It restricts in some way the popularity of Halal Meal among non-Muslims however it is fit for human consumption.

Your esteemed organization can also re-emphasize the same to IATA which will ultimately strengthen our community as whole.

Halal (Arabic: means lawful or legal) is a term designating any object or an action which is permissible to use or engage in, according to Islamic law. It is the opposite of haraam. The term is used to designate food seen as permissible according to Islamic law (Sharia).

This will have more specific reach to the set classified passenger travelling world wide.

This is only the first stage to give a more customer friendly understanding of the on-flight catering services available worldwide, and our first step is to address the need of on-flight catering services being provided to the people of Islamic Faith. Today many airline food catering service providers claim & label meals as “MOML” without proper halal certification processes being followed, and they self claim that the food is suitable for Muslim travellers. Authorised Halal Certification should be obtained if they claim the food is suitable for Muslim travellers.

We will forever be grateful to you and your organization if you would consider our aforesaid request and proposal. Expecting your positive reply and advice as soon as possible.

Thanking You,

Yours Truly,

Mohamed Jinna

CEO, Halal India

IN +91-9884399988 SG + 65-97638009

www.halalindia.org

“Eat Permitted Food – Live Healthy”

“O you people! Eat of what is on earth, lawful and clean…”(Quran 2:168)

Muslim travelers in Dubai will soon have another Crescentrated Hotel to choose from during their travels: The Millennium Plaza Hotel in Dubai has been awarded a Crescentrating of 5 and includes Halal-friendly facilities such as Halal food, the availability of prayer rugs, prayer times, as well as the direction of the Qiblah highlighted in their
rooms.
Opening its doors to the public in December 2011, this five-star luxury hotel is located in the heart of Dubai on one of the city’s most prestigious roads – Sheikh Zayed Road. The hotel boasts of a 65 storey tower comprising 413 hotel rooms and offers modern alternatives for conference halls and meetings rooms.

Having been awarded a Crescentrating of 5, Dubai’s newest hotel has several Halal-friendly facilities and services which Muslims guests are sure to value. It is an Alcohol free Hotel, with a sumptuous range of Halal food served in its restaurants. Separate male and female prayer rooms can be accommodated upon request.

“The Millennium Plaza Hotel is keen on going the extra mile to make sure our Muslim guests are comfortable, whether they are traveling for business or for leisure. The Crescentrating of our Hotel shows that we have integrated many Halal-friendly facilities and services in our offer in addition to the fantastic service and hospitality we guarantee,” said Binu Varghese, the Director of Sales and Marketing at Millennium Plaza Hotel.

“We are excited to welcome Millennium Plaza Hotel; yet another addition to the family of Crescentrated Hotels in Dubai that we could propose to Muslim travelers around the world,” said Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of Crescentrating.

Click herefor a full list of Halal Friendly services and facilities provided by Millennium Plaza Hotel.

About Crescentrating:  Crescentrating Pte Ltd. is a Singapore based company focused on the development of the Halal Friendly Travel market segment worldwide. Establishments are crescentrated on a scale of one to seven based on the services and facilities they provide to Muslim travelers. The Board of Directors and Board of Advisers of Crescentrating Pte Ltd. come from diverse backgrounds, bringing unique skills and knowledge from the Islamic Banking Industry, Halal Food Industry, Research and Consultancy, Islamic Scholarship and Corporate experience. All of them are well-established individuals with International and pioneering experience in their chosen fields.

Muslims have a very unique attribute when it comes to travel. From a very young age, like from the time they understand the 5 basic pillars of Islam, they develop the lifelong desire to travel and perform Hajj.
This not only inspired many to become some of the most pioneering explorers of the world, but they also gave rise to a whole genre of travel writing. Some of the foremost Muslim explorers like Ibn Jubair, and Ibn Batutta
left their home towns with the intention of performing Hajj and eventually set out on fascinating journeys exploring different lands and cultures.

Somehow during the good part of the last two centuries this pioneering spirit has been subdued among the Muslims. That is all set to change now. Muslim travelers are now one of the fastest growing travel segments.
In 2010, it was estimated that they spent about $90 billion USD accounting to around 9% of the total expenditure by travelers. This is set to grow to more than $200 billion USD by 2020, amounting to around 15% of the total travelers’ expenditures.

This has meant that they have become an important travel segment, whose unique requirements need to be taken into account by travel service providers in developing their services and facilities. The good news is that many service providers are keen to accommodate the needs of these consumers. However, it has also given rise to buzzwords like “Shariah compliant hotels”, “Halal travel”, “Islamic travel “, “Halal hotels” etc. with none of them being fully defined as to what they actually mean.

This was the one of the primary reasons for the launch of Crescentrating. The rating system developed by Crescentrating allows the travel services and facilities to be rated based on the facilities they provide to cater to the needs of the Halal
conscious travelers. Through Crescentrating the service provider can choose what level of Halal friendly services that they are willing and able to accommodate. At the same time, it allows Muslim travelers to make an educated choice when
planning their trips, based on the level of Halal friendly facilities they are comfortable with.

The hotel Crescentrating is based on scale of 1 to 7, with 7 being the highest rating. The areas considered in the rating includes the level of Halal food services offered, prayer information/facilities, ease of use of water in the washrooms, ability to cater to the specific needs during Ramadan, the level of non-Halal activities in the hotel, and availability of recreational facilities with privacy for males and females.

Hotels rated 1 to 3 at minimum have information on Halal food and prayer available, while a hotel rated 4 or 5 will have some level of Halal food services in the hotel among other things. Hotels rated 6 and 7 are very specialized hotels serving
only Halal food, alcohol free, night club free, family friendly TV channels  and having other nice to have Halal friendly services and facilities. Hotels that wish to get a Crescentrating and be listed on its website have to agree to allow for onsite audits.

During the coming months, Crescentrating will launch rating services for theme parks, hospitals, airlines, etc. and eventually cover all services and facilities related to travel and hospitality.

www.Crescentrating.com is a specialized website focused on catering to the needs of the Muslim travelers worldwide. From listing of travel services that are rated by Crescentrating to destination guides, airport guides, etc. these help Muslim travelers make Halal friendly choices when planning their trips.

More destinations and travel services have realized the need to include the Halal conscious travelers’ needs in their services and products.  The travel service providers have years of experience catering to the changing needs of consumers by adjusting their products. As such, for them, Muslims are just another segment to cater to. Muslim travelers, when planning their trips, also should request to have those services that will make their travel a comfortable one. With the already higher
awareness among the travel industry about the Muslim travelers, requesting for these facilities will only further increase the need for them to provide such services. Choosing Crescentrated services will let the travelers explore the  world with peace of mind, insha Allah.

Fazal Bahardeen is CEO of Crescentrating.com