Hotels: Investing in ‘Halal’ kitchen not feasible just yet

CEBU, Philippines - International hotel chain Radisson Blu Cebu joins other hotel properties in its stand not to invest in a Halal kitchen yet, as the market is still not feasible for now.

Radisson Blu Cebu general manager Laurent Boisdron said that while the hotel is willing to invest on registering an official Halal kitchen, the hotel's Middle Eastern guests, which is only about four percent, cannot justify the investment.

However, despite the absence of a Halal kitchen, he said the hotel has wide choices of Halal certified food in their buffet options at Cafe Feria, to cater to tourists with particular menu preferences.

This time, he reiterated investing in a Halal kitchen is not yet the hotel's priority.

 Earlier, Julie Najar, president of the Hotel, Resort, and Restaurant Association of Cebu (HRRAC), also said that requiring hotels to install certified Halal kitchens is still not doable right now.

 Najar said allotting part of the hotel resort's kitchen to make way for Halal preparation requirement, is a bit expensive.

Installing certified Halal Kitchen would require a hotel or restaurant at least P10 million investment, Najar added.

Although offering Halal food options could attract the high spender Middle Eastern visitors, and tourists of certain religious groups, some tourism stakeholders in Cebu are still not prepared to set-up a full Halal certified kitchen.

      Early this year, the Department of Tourism (DOT) announced that it will be providing incentives for 50 restaurants in the Philippines being tapped to go Halal-friendly.

While this requires some level of input from industry players in terms of investment, DOT vowed to cover some of the needed fees.

The department’s Philippine Halal-Tourism Project is aimed at making the country a more Muslim-friendly destination.

Pilot establishments being tapped to apply for Halal-certification will be restaurants in various hotels, resorts, MICE (meetings, incentives, conventions, exhibitions) facilities in Manila, Cebu, Davao and Boracay.

The growth in Muslim global travel for the past decade with 25-million traveling in 2010, around 108-million in 2014 and about 150-million in 2015.

In the Philippines alone, 10 million Muslim Filipinos form part of the 54 million domestic travelers in 2014. — (FREEMAN)