The Andalusian Public Foundation El Legado Andalusí participates in the First Halal Tourism Conference addressed at tourism professionals
The meeting has been launched the September 22th in Granada in the Congress Palace and aims to disseminate the possible opportunities provided by the emerging market halal.
The Andalusian Public Foundation El Legado Andalusí participates in the First Halal Tourism Conference launched in Granada the September 22th. This meeting aims to disseminate what is halal tourism and provide guidelines on it to professionals from the hospitality sector in a time in which this segment is an important potential growth market in Granada and Andalusia.
The Andalusian Public Foundation El Legado Andalusí organized an information stand at this meeting and participated in a workshop titled: "The routes of El Legado Andalusí: a cultural tourism project." The director of the Andalusian Public Foundation El Legado Andalusí, Marina Martin, stressed the importance of participating in such initiatives "for what it means for the strengthening cultural, social and tourist ties with the countries of the Arab World and because it is a national and international meeting to disseminate what are the needs of halal tourism and exchange views". In this framework, El Legado andalusí was reporting on its stand about the Umayyad Route in Andalusia that begins in Algeciras and, along more than 600 kilometers, continues Sevilla, Córdoba, Jaén and ends in Granada offering to the traveler landscapes and places of great beauty with a common Umayyad past.
According to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Spain is top destination for Muslim tourists, especially those who come from Southeast Asia and the Arab World. 81,000 tourists from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Kuwait travelled to Spain the last year, according Turespaña. Moreover, in the whole of the European Union there are 14.2 million potential customers in halal tourism. Other potential customers are Muslim European citizens living in countries such as France, Germany or the UK. Some countries are already launching the so-called halal tourism and adjust its offer to attract this type of customer.
Attractions of Andalusia for this tourism
Clearly, Andalusia, due to his past and his Arab-Andalusian heritage, is a major attraction for this tourism. This motivation is important for travelers as well as the food, the weather or the coast.
El Legado andalusí has been working for over 15 years in the recovery of the Hispano-Muslim culture in contact with the countries from the Arab World, and especially with its neighbors in the southern Mediterranean. In this regard, the Foundation is a reference as an example of good practices in the management of cultural Routes in various European projects and it is advising institutions and governments of different Arab and Mediterranean countries through the Umayyad Project, funded by the program ENPI CBC MED. This project has been also present at the conference where could obtain information about it. It aims to create a set itinerary in which locations from different countries will be integrated into a transnational route. The objective is to realize the rich heritage of the countries involved from the point of view of tourism under a common brand of tourism in the Mediterranean and make it more accessible to tourists.