Hong Kong seeks to expand halal food options to draw more Muslim tourists

HONG KONG – Hong Kong wants to be more Muslim-friendly and is making a push to offer a greater range of halal food options across its dining scene, as it seeks to woo more tourists from South-east Asia, the Middle East and Muslim-majority regions in mainland China.

“We would like to attract more of the entire Muslim travel market… We hope they will come to Hong Kong, and then perhaps venture further into mainland China,” Hong Kong Tourism Board executive director Dane Cheng said on a recent visit to Dubai in May.

“But we need to up the game in terms of being Muslim-friendly. We need more halal restaurants and other facilities, (and) we are now on top of this,” he told The National, a newspaper in the United Arab Emirates, at the Arabian Travel Market trade show.

The government has since late 2023 been trying to tap the wealthy Middle Eastern market to diversify the Hong Kong economy that has slowed after the 2019 mass protests, Covid-19 curbs and strained US-China ties.

These measures include boosting partnerships and attracting more investors and travellers to the city from the region where Islam is the dominant religion.

Hong Kong’s tourism sector, a key pillar of its economy, has traditionally accounted for about 5 per cent of gross domestic product and 7 per cent of employment.

The city has noted a growing increase in the number of tourists from South-east Asian nations, the city’s second-biggest source of visitors after mainland China.

In April, for example, visitor arrivals from Indonesia jumped by more than 80 per cent year on year, driven by the end of Ramadan, according to the tourism board. This came after the board’s collaborations with Indonesian influencers, travel agencies and airlines to promote Hong Kong.

But Hong Kong lawmakers on a visit to Malaysia in May said they received feedback from Malaysian officials that the country’s Muslims, while keen to tour the city, often opted to visit Thailand instead due to Hong Kong’s limited halal dining options.

A recent move to allow more visitors from mainland Chinese cities – including Urumqi in Muslim-majority Xinjiang region – to visit Hong Kong without joining tour groups from May 27 has also given officials greater impetus to expand the city’s number of halal-certified eateries.

Mainlanders were once allowed to travel to Hong Kong only in tour groups or on business visas. In 2003, an individual visit scheme was introduced to allow residents from designated mainland cities like Beijing and Shanghai to travel solo to Hong Kong for leisure. The scheme was last expanded in February to include Xi’an and Qingdao. The latest additions bring the number of cities covered to 59. 

Hong Kong has a 300,000-strong Muslim community, about 4 per cent of its population. But it has only a little more than 100 halal-certified eateries, just 0.6 per cent of the nearly 18,000 licensed food establishments across the city. The tourism board maintains a list of these businesses on its website.

And while Hong Kong has several halal-certified fast food, Indian or Middle Eastern food chains, there appears to be only one location that serves a halal version of the city’s famed dim sum – the Islamic Centre Canteen in Wan Chai.

Hong Kong still has a way to go to cater to Muslim tourists who want to try Cantonese cuisine, local food blogger Maryam Khan told The Straits Times.

“It is worth considering that many Muslim visitors coming to Hong Kong hail from the Middle East, so it would be a missed opportunity if they couldn’t experience something new and different from what their hometown already offers,” said Ms Khan, whose Instagram account @foodie_explorerz – dedicated to halal finds across the city – boasts nearly 20,000 followers.

“The government should prioritise promoting Cantonese cuisine... Each destination’s distinct cuisine contributes to its overall appeal and sets it apart from others,” she said.

Lawmakers have also called for Hong Kong to be made more welcoming for Muslim visitors.

“Muslims have their eating habits and their own culture,” lawmaker Kennedy Wong said at a Legislative Council session on May 13. “Hong Kong’s tourism industry… should be made more accommodating and understanding towards such minority travellers’ needs.”

Another lawmaker, Ms Nixie Lam, said the city could roll out a new government halal certification system sooner than 2025, as initially planned.

The scheme is aimed at making halal certification “more suitable for Hong Kong” than the existing system, which was “extremely strict”, the tourism board’s Mr Cheng said in March. Details of the new scheme have not been made available.

Halal certification in Hong Kong is currently granted by the Incorporated Trustees of the Islamic Community Fund of Hong Kong, which also conducts regular spot checks of businesses to ensure they adhere to halal food preparation requirements.

Islamic dietary laws dictate what followers can or cannot eat and how their food should be prepared. Pork and alcohol are forbidden, for example. Meat from animals permitted to be eaten must be slaughtered in accordance with syariah law. Halal certification requires food to be prepared separately from non-halal food to prevent contamination.

Mr Mustafa Temir, who runs Hong Kong’s only halal-certified Korean restaurant Kimchi Korean Fusion in Tsim Sha Tsui, said his business had improved since his eatery obtained the certification in 2022, two years after opening.

“Business is better because now we can cater specifically to Muslim customers with their dietary restrictions, while not affecting our non-Muslim customer base,” Mr Mustafa said.

“Many Muslim tourists from Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, China, as well as Hong Kong locals, have visited us. If the government wants to make Hong Kong more welcoming for Muslims, they should also grant us support for rental and staff costs so that halal businesses like ours can go on surviving in this poor economy.”

Making Hong Kong a more Muslim-friendly destination, however, goes beyond just the food, said Ms Khan.

“It would also be highly beneficial to provide more designated prayer areas for Muslims, as well as washrooms nearby,” she said. As part of their faith, Muslims pray five times a day and have to perform ritual washing before each prayer.

“Airports serve as an excellent example, with many – including Hong Kong’s – providing prayer rooms, considering the influx of people from different countries. As an international destination, Hong Kong should strive to accommodate the diverse backgrounds of its visitors.”