ISLAMIC HOTELS or HALAL HOTELS getting popular in Turkey, especially from the Turkish.

‘Halal Hotels’ lure Turks.

Hurriyet English Daily News [August 28,  2013], reported that, Istanbul – Alternative holidays in halal hotels in Turkey have been drawing the attention of Turkish people, rather than Arab tourists, according to sector professionals.

Local tourists make up a major proportion of visitors who prefer alternative holidays, Seval Tur General Manager Omer Solmaz said in a telephone interview with the Hurriyet Daily News yesterday. Solmaz said Turks living abroad were the second largest group choosing these hotels, while other Muslims in European countries and Russia were interested in alternative holidays despite their share in total visitor numbers in Turkey being relatively low.

The hotels offer their visitors separate swimming pools and beaches for women and men, along with halal food and non-alcoholic drinks. 

Solmaz said people who generally want to have a holiday with their family in an alcohol-free environment prefer such- Muslim-friendly hotels, particularly adding that women tend to feel ‘more comfortable’ there. “Veiled women are able to wear swimsuits or bikinis while they swim in separate pools, or in the sea off separate beaches. In addition, some unveiled women prefer these hotels, in order to avoid being disturbed by the attitude of some men” he said.

A representative from Yorunge Turizm told the daily News that Arab tourists generally preferred normal hotels in the southern provinces in summer. “This is because they are already living in conservative countries. When they come to Turkey, they are looking for something different,’’ he said.

The hotels serve at almost full capacity in the summer sea-son, expect during the month of Ramadhan, when the capacity falls to around 50%. “The people who prefer alternative holidays are usually prayerful. They can’t swim while they are fasting. That’s why the occupancy rates fall during Ramadan.” Solmaz said, adding that some hotels were lighting the beaches at nights for their Ramadhan visitors, who sometimes wanted to swim after the fasting breaking iftar meal. 

The alternative holiday has been a rising trend over the last decade of Justice and Development Party (AKP) rule, according to sector players, while there are currently only around 50 hotels for alternative holidays in Turkey (approximately 30 halal hotels and 20 thermal hotels) it seems like their number will increase.

Muslim-friendly hotels are particularly located in the southern, Aegean, north western and Black Sea regions, while thermal hotels are generally in interior provinces.

“Thermal hotels are for health tourism. They don’t have alcohol drinks for health reasons, but they have become a part of alternative holidays over time,” Secim Aydin, the president of Anatolia Tourism Enterprises Association, told the Daily News.

He also added that some places in plateaus in the Black Sea region had started to offer alternative holidays. 

“Alternative holidays are appropriate for Islamic tendencies.” Aydin said. “These hotels’ profit margins and occupancy rates are higher than the others. As long as this profitability continues, investments in this sector will continue under this government’s rule.”

The prices per person, per night range between 25 euros and 220 euros in alternative holiday hotels.

Caprice Gold Group leads the way in Halal Hotel Industry

Further as reported by our special correspond from Istanbul, a good example of ‘muslim-friendly’ hotel is, Caprice Thermal Palace which is the first worldwide five-star hotel, based on Islamic compliance, serves by 728 rooms and 2548 beds since 1995 and it is located in Didim, Turkey.

 

 Caprice Thermal Palace goes down in history as the first five-star hotel of the world with no alcohol service and private swimming facilities allocated individually for men and women. The hotel also provides excellent spa facilities with Hamam, Sauna, Massage and Thermal pool for men and women.The average occupancy rate for the last 10 years is 85% annually. Today the hotel is experiencing advanced booking of more than 10 years ahead.

According to Prof. Shaya’a OTHMAN, the Group CEO, Caprice Thermal Palace is the 1^st in the world to receive Islamic Quality Standard award of IQS-5 Crescents Standard from Universal Crescent Standard Centre, during the International Islamic Tourism Conference which was held in World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur Malaysia on 6 December 2012.

In Malaysia, Blue Wave Grand Hotel Shah Alam received IQS – 3 Crescents Standard Award.

 

Falls under the same organization, The Caprice Gold Istanbul, which will be in operation in late 2014, will provide state-of-art facilities and services of higher standards as well as “Muslim friendly”, which is strictly based on Islamic principles. 

This hotel is built at the cost of Euro 300 million [excluding the cost of land], will provide 1300 luxury rooms with 3000 bed capacity. The services and facilities are meant for business and leisure. Caprice Gold, Istanbul is the first hotel in the world to receive IQS 7-Standard award of Islamic Quality Standard (IQS).

 

 

  

The Founder of the Caprice Gold Group is a brilliant visionary businessman from Siirt, Turkey, Mr. Fadil AKGUNDUZ. 

He received both of these prestigious awards of IQS – Islamic Quality Standard [ IQS- 5 Crescents Standard and IQS-7 Crescents Standard] from the International well known Muslim Statement, Right Hon Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamed [ Ex-Prime Minister of Malaysia] during the International Islamic Tourism Standard Conference.