Diplomats are urging Boracay executives to offer halal food to attract more foreign tourists

The Ministry of Tourism says they will work with the Ministry of Science and Technology to educate restaurants about halal food

AKLAN, Philippines – A group of diplomats has urged the local Malay government in Aklan to consider offering Halal food to attract more foreign tourists.

Most of the discussions were presented during the Boracay Diplomatic and Business Forum held at the Belmont Hotel-Boracay on Friday, April 19. Among the diplomats who came were Megawati DatoPaduka Haji Manan of Brunei, Agus Widjojo of Indonesia, Dato Abdul Malik Melvin Castelino of Malaysia, Lai Thai Binh of Vietnam, Imtiaz Ahmad Kazi of Pakistan, Sadre Alam of India and Wallace Minn-Gan Chow of Taiwan .

Halal food is any food that is considered permissible under Islamic law as defined in the Quran.

Data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry shows there is a $3.3 global market for halal food.

The Global Tourism Business Associations organized the business forum in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, Aklan Provincial Government and Malaysian LGU.

Widjojo from Indonesia told the Rappler in an interview that Halal food is intended to be safe not only for Islam, but also for Christians.

“It can be eaten by almost anyone and is safe,” he said.

Western Visayas Tourism Director Crisanta Marlene Rodriguez said they will work with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to provide Halal food orientation to restaurants in the resort island. The DOST has been providing food safety training for several restaurants in Boracay for several years.

Malaysia’s Castelino, meanwhile, said that while he supports the call to provide halal food, he is keen to improve the airports, especially for Boracay.

In 2014, Air Asia introduced Kuala Lumpur-Kalibo International Airport and vice versa. However, this was suspended at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when travel was largely restricted.

“I will ask AirAsia what the current status is now and the possibility of resumption,” he said.

Indian Ambassador Alam said India has the potential to attract tourists from abroad. He said there is a lot of potential for Indian tourists to go to Boracay, but he hopes the Philippine government will waive the visa requirements.

“Our Indian nationals are eager to travel to the Philippines, but many of them are finding it difficult to enter the country due to the visa requirements,” he said.

Malaysian Mayor Frolibar Bautista said he welcomes the development as he hopes it will attract more foreign tourists to Boracay.

According to the Malaysian Tourism Board, at least 630,648 tourists visited Boracay from January 1 to April 15 in 2024. This year, the Malaysian LGU is targeting 2.3 million tourists in 2024.

The top ten foreign tourists are:

• South Korean – 50,329
• China – 22,324
• United States of America – 13,622
• Taiwan – 7,864
• Australia – 5,329
• Russia – 5,286
• United Kingdom – 4,393
• Germany – 3,592
• Japan – 2,872
• Canada – 2,837

The Travel + Leisure website recently named Boracay the 13th best white beach in the world. – Rappler.com