ABU DHABI, 19 Oct 2015: Tourism Malaysia is promoting the country’s flourishing Halal industry and rising Islamic tourism at the 3-day World Halal Travel Summit & Exhibition (WHTS15), which begins today at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre. The event is deemed the largest B2B gathering of global Halal travel specialists ever assembled.

Tourism Malaysia’s Senior Director of International Promotion (Asia/Africa) Datuk Musa Yusof is leading 14 Malaysian sellers from eight organisations comprising hotels and tour agents, as well as the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), to participate in the event.

This year’s WHTS also sees Tourism Malaysia participating as the Headline Partner, giving it various benefits to help maximise the country’s participation in the summit. As the Headline Partner, Tourism Malaysia garners greater exposure and publicity at the event, which is attended by over 6,000 invited participants, including travel and tourism professionals and agencies, hospitality groups and hoteliers, tour operators, developers, destinations and key industry decision makers from around the globe.

The summit also includes seminars and panel discussions to highlight key issues facing Halal tourism. Malaysia is represented by the Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC), which is one of the agencies under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia, tasked to focus on the promotion of the country’s Halal and Islamic tourism.

On 20 October, the Director General of ITC Zulkifly Md. Said will deliver a talk titled “Muslim Friendly Malaysia – Developing and Branding the Islamic Tourism Sector in a Muslim Majority Country”. The case study presentation aims to provide practical insights, tips, and best practices on destination management and marketing strategies on how to cater to Muslim travellers. Besides that, Zulkifly is also one of the panelists to discuss on the topic “Outbound Tourism Trends from Muslim Majority Countries”.

The WHTS15 also includes an award ceremony, the World Halal Travel Awards, which will take place at The Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi on 20 October. The event aims to celebrate outstanding products and services within the international Halal tourism sector. Malaysia’s capital city Kuala Lumpur has been shortlisted in the ‘World’s Best Halal Tourism Destination” category while the country is one of the finalists in the “World’s Best Halal Culinary Destination” category.

Besides participating in the summit, Tourism Malaysia is collaborating with Etihad Airways to organise a workshop in Abu Dhabi on 22 Oct, Al-Ain (25 Oct), and Dubai (26 Oct), where a business session will be held for the local industry players to meet, network, and establish business opportunities with their counterparts from Malaysia.

Tourism Malaysia’s participation in the World Halal Travel Summit & Exhibition 2015 goes in line with the country’s objective to promote its Halal and Islamic tourism to attract more Muslim travellers to the country. Malaysia was ranked first in the World’s Top Muslim-Friendly Destination, out of 100 destinations around the world, based on the report by the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2015.

In 2014, Malaysia received a total of 19,772 tourists from UAE, signifying a drop of 0.3% compared to 19,830 in 2013.