Muslim-friendly tourism initiatives have seen early successes but could use further improvement.

The News Lens
Date: 2018/12/21
By: Matthew Fulco

Credit: Depositphotos

Taiwan is aiming to attract more Muslim visitors from Southeast Asia in a bid to diversify its flagging tourism market, which has suffered from overdependence on China. Once the source of 40 percent of Taiwan’s 10 million annual visitors, China has restricted group tours to the island since the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won the presidency in 2016. Without the influx of Chinese visitors, Taiwan’s tourism market has cooled dramatically, recording anemic 0.46 percent growth in 2017.

The DPP, wary of Beijing’s desire to annex Taiwan, has sought to reduce Chinese leverage over the island’s economic affairs. As part of the New Southbound Policy, a recasting of former President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝)’s Go South initiative, Taiwan is wooing tourists from Southeast Asia. While the Vietnam and the Philippines are the fastest-growing markets, Taiwan is also seeking to attract visitors from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei.

Considering that it has only a small domestic Muslim population, Taiwan may not seem like an obvious holiday destination for adherents of Islam. Yet the government has worked assiduously to make Taiwan Muslim-friendly, says Joe Y. Chou (周永暉), director general of the Tourism Bureau. He notes that the government is assisting restaurants and 4- and 5-star hotels to qualify for halal status (certifying that they meet the standards for what is permissible under Islamic law in terms of dietary requirements) and has created a dedicated section on the official tourism website listing Muslim-friendly accommodations and restaurants, as well as the locations of the eight mosques in Taiwan.    [FULL  STORY]