Tourism
authorities have launched a program to make more halal-certified food products
available in Russia. The program aims to attract more tourists from the United
Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait.
In December
2015, Russia launched a program to encourage some hotels and restaurants in the
country to comply with halal requirements.
The Halal
Friendly Program was launched to coincide with the opening of the VisitRussia
office in Dubai in the first week of December. Russian officials plan to use
the program to attract more Muslim tourists to the country.
Muslim travelers
Irina
Schegolkova, an official with the Halal Friendly Program, believes that Russian
tourism authorities have not been paying enough attention to the Middle East.
?Tour
groups from Muslim countries are expected to triple in the near future. The
program will help attract tourists from the Middle East,? she says. ?In the
past, visitors from the Gulf mainly came on business, but now we intend to
attract ordinary tourists. We want to show them the Russian winter, something
that doesn't exist in their part of the world."
Visit
Russia offices will be opened in Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf
countries. Tourism authorities are planning to work with flydubai and Emirates
to promote Russia as a tourist destination. Russia is also planning to organize
familiarization trips for tour operates in Muslim countries.
The halal
program will focus on Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Sochi and the towns of the
Golden Ring. According to Schegolkova, these cities already have the
infrastructure and hotels that can provide halal-friendly services. The list of
cities will be expanded over the next few months.
?Earlier,
the Russian tourism industry was oriented towards European and American
tourists, but now more attention will be paid to tourists from Asia,?
Schegolkova says.
In
addition to cuisine from Russia?s Muslim regions and internal republics, the
program aims to make halal-certified traditional Russian dishes widely
available in the country.
http://rbth.com/politics_and_society/society/2015/12/25/russia-looks-to-become-halal-friendly_554811
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