It gives me great pleasure to be here for the Halal Malaysia Certification Award to Pizzeria La Tavernetta Restaurant of the Costa Victoria cruise liner. This event marks another milestone in the development of the halal industry in Penang. It’s also a great honour for us to have this award certification done in the presence of our honourable Tourism Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri Nazri Aziz.
The event today signifies the increasing awareness among Muslim travellers on the importance and availability of halal products especially for food and beverage. The state government initiated the development of Penang International Halal Hub or Halal Penang, to serve the growing demands for halal products, services and solutions where a collaboration between government, private and academic quarters form the basis of its administrative structure.
Penang’s strong drive for tourism has managed to draw a substantial number of high spending tourists from the Middle East countries especially in the months of July to September every year, which is their peak travel period. Also aside from the Middle East market, potential tourists for Halal products and services can be extended to the over 30 million Muslims in China.
While most of the leisure oriented Muslim tourists are mainly attracted by the sea, shopping, and some by Penang’s heritage and culture, food is one of the essential elements of the tourists’ experience in Penang. As we proudly highlight Penang as being the Asian Food Capital, we also need to offer the Muslim tourists, Halal food that is varied and widely available.
For your information, Muslim Travel Shopping Index 2015 listed Penang as one of the ‘Top 10 Favourite Cities For Muslim Travel’. Penang was ranked #9 where it pitted against 40 international cities affiliated with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). The Muslim Travel Shopping Index 2015 was created by MasterCard and CrescentRating, which is touted as the world’s leading authority on Muslim-friendly travel.
We are indeed proud of this accolade as it gives us the confidence that we are on the right track to establishing ourselves as a premier halal hub in the region. It is without a doubt that Halal Penang has played a pivotal role in this achievement where it is progressively reaching out to the Muslim travellers both foreign and domestic. In 2012, a comprehensive guidebook called ‘Experience Penang – a Muslim Travel Guide’ was translated to Arabic language. Aside from print, this guidebook will be made available online in both English and Arabic by the 1st quarter of 2016. Additionally Halal Penang is also working on a ‘Muslim Training Module for Tour Guides in Penang’ after which it will launch Muslim Tour Packages to be promoted extensively by the 1st quarter of next year.
Penang also offers our UNESCO World Heritage site of George Town as a celebration of our multi-cultural and multi-racial diversity, a cultural and art centre. Lonely Planet, the largest travel web-portal in the world recently listed George Town as the 4th best to travel and 4th most charismatic city in the world due to our growing art and cultural scene. What better way to see George Town in its full glory than to dock in your ship in Swettenham Pier and walk 5 minutes to this heritage city.
Speaking of tour packages, I’m very sure Costa Victoria will attract many groups where specialised programmes and activities will be conducted on board the ship. The ‘Pelayaran Islamic’ package tours will surely attract many domestic Muslim travellers as well.
Last but not least, I wish to extend my heartfelt congratulations and best wishes to Costa Victoria towards the success of its new venture as a halal cruise liner.
Thank you.