Promote the search for development opportunities
With 57 member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and more than 2.2 billion Muslims worldwide , the Halal tourism market is not only large in scale but also rich in spending potential. According to international statistics, global Muslim tourism spending reached more than 220 billion USD (in 2023) and is forecast to exceed 300 billion USD by 2026. Many countries in the world also identify Halal as a target market for tourism development.
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh once expressed his desire to develop Vietnam's Halal industry into a truly strong industry, making Vietnam an indispensable destination on the global Halal map.
Introducing Muslim cuisine at Hanoi Tourism Festival 2025. |
As one of the leading tourism localities in Vietnam, Hanoi is urgently implementing solutions to seek opportunities to capture this market. In recent years, the number of international tourists from countries with large Muslim communities to Hanoi has been increasing. In 2024, Hanoi recorded strong growth from the market of visitors from India, Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Brunei, Qatar... reaching 650,000 visitors (accounting for about 15% of the total number of international visitors to Hanoi). In the first 5 months of 2025, the number of visitors from most countries with large Muslim communities to Hanoi continued to increase compared to the same period last year.
In addition to taking advantage of existing advantages such as the Al-Noor Mosque at 12 Hang Luoc, Hoan Kiem District, or being rated by international tourism platforms as a safe and women-friendly destination, which is very important for Muslim tourists, Hanoi has now deployed Muslim-friendly locations and services. The city has a number of Halal-standard accommodations such as: Meliá Hanoi, InterContinental Hanoi Landmark72. Some hotels that serve Halal food include: Duparc, Grand Mercure, Pullman, Movenpick Living West Hanoi, JW Marriott, Sofitel Legend Metropole... Many restaurants, eateries, and food service establishments for Muslims have also been established such as: D'Lions (92 Le Duan), Khazaana (11 Ly Thai To)... With these advantages, Mr. Nguyen Quy Phuong, Head of International Relations and Tourism Promotion Department (Vietnam National Administration of Tourism) said that Hanoi has great potential to strongly develop Halal tourism. Mr. Mieu Abbas, Chairman of Halal Vietnam also assessed: "With its position as the political-cultural-tourism center of the whole country, Hanoi can absolutely take the lead in forming a standard Halal tourism ecosystem".
Introducing Muslim cuisine at Hanoi Tourism Festival 2025. |
Actively welcome Muslim guests
Despite its great potential, Halal tourism in Hanoi, like other localities in Vietnam, is quite new, so according to experts, it requires close coordination between management agencies, the business community, international organizations and domestic and foreign partners.
Mr. Nguyen Manh Than, Chairman of the Hanoi Tourism Association, commented: “Due to the specific characteristics of religion, beliefs and culture, Halal tourists have very strict standards, especially requirements on cuisine, religious living space, along with respect for cultural values, beliefs and customs of Islam. We are in the process of transforming from awareness to action to promote the development of this type of tourism. Although it is difficult, I think that everything has advantages for us to take advantage of, or difficulties for us to overcome together.”
Overcoming the lack of understanding of Halal culture, it is easy to see the desire to develop the Halal market in Hanoi most recently through the event of Hanoi Tourism Festival 2025 with the theme "Experience Hanoi in 2025" which took place last week. Within the framework of the festival, for the first time, there were culinary booths from India, Malaysia, Iran, Palestine... Here, visitors can enjoy the rich cuisine of other countries, exchange and interact culturally with the Muslim community.
The Hanoi Department of Tourism also organized a seminar on the topic "Developing a Halal-standard agricultural tourism experience model" to listen to the advice of experts in the industry. At the seminar, many delegates expressed their interest in the sharing of Mr. Vo Ngoc Han, CEO of Phan Gia Xanh Garden (Nha Trang, Khanh Hoa) from the reality of welcoming Muslim guests at his Halal-standard agricultural tourism facility.
“If we follow Halal standards, welcoming Halal guests is not difficult. There is nothing to be afraid of when more than 2 billion people have the same needs. The most frightening thing is that each guest has different needs. Muslims cannot eat regular food, but everyone can eat Halal food,” said Mr. Vo Ngoc Han.
According to Mr. Han, to exploit the Halal tourism market, we must understand Muslims. They have absolute faith in religion and spirituality, so the more we understand them, the easier it is to serve them. Muslims do not like places that are too noisy and bustling, they like to be gentle, discreet and close to nature, so rural agricultural tourism will be an experience that is very suitable for the needs of Halal customers.
Also at the seminar, Mr. Mieu Abbas expressed: “We do not consider Halal as a secondary option, but a strategic opportunity for Vietnam to affirm its position in the international market with quality, ethics and thorough preparation”. He proposed: “Hanoi needs to develop a set of Halal guidelines specifically for the city’s tourism and service sectors; organize regular training and consulting courses to improve the implementation capacity of businesses; establish a center to introduce and promote Hanoi Halal tourism to connect with the international market”.
Mr. Tran Trung Hieu, Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Tourism said: "The Department will advise on developing specific policies to promote Halal tourism as a strategic segment in the direction of expanding the international market with specific solutions on policies, investment, human resource training, communication, and promotion of Halal experiential tourism".
Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/ha-noi-mo-cua-don-du-khach-halal-a422372.html
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