Halal food, certification and halal tourism: Insights from Malaysia and Singapore
This paper is concerned with selected aspects of halal food and its importance for Muslim tourists. After a brief account of the halal tourism market worldwide and the place occupied by halal food, the defining characteristics of the latter are discussed together with the challenges of regulation. Approaches to certification adopted in the popular tourist destinations of Malaysia and Singapore, South East Asian countrieswith amajority andminorityMuslimpopulation respectively, are then considered before analysis of the part played by halal food in their tourism product development and marketing. Contrasts are observed linked to differences as tourist venues and conditions prevailing more widely, but the two states highlight the availability of halal food as a critical dimension of Muslim tourist-friendliness. The study is exploratory and findings are based on analysis of secondary data, employing a case study approach. Avenues for future research are identified in order
