The Philippines is the latest ASEAN nation keen to tap the lucrative halal tourism market.
The Philippine Department of Tourism (PDOT) has teamed up with halal travel portal CrescentRating to promote itself as a preferred Muslim friendly destination.
The PDOT will roll out a series of activities to increase awareness of halal food options, mosques and Muslim friendly accommodation, initially focused on Manila, Davao, Cebu, and Boracay.
The CrescentRating accreditation service will be used to rank hotels and restaurants and affiliate company HalalTrip will publish a Muslim visitor guide to the country.
"The Philippines receives close to 566,000 visitors from the Middle East, parts of ASEAN, as well as India and Israel. This forms our base market to extend halal services and to move forward," said POT secretary Ramon R. Jimenez, Jr.
Social media campaigns will also be launched.
The global Muslim travel market is projected to be worth more than $200 billion within five years.
The Philippines will target not only high value Muslim travellers from the Middle East but also markets in neighbouring Muslim nations Malaysia and Indonesia.
