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Halal tourism can enrich Montenegrin tourism offer

Halal tourism can enrich Montenegrin tourism offer – this was one of the conclusions at the roundtable on the topic ‘Halal tourism – potentials for growth and development’, organized by the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro alongside the Secretariat for Entrepreneurship Development in the Capital City Podgorica and the Association for Promotion and Development of the Islamic Economy to Montenegro.

Estimations suggest that the value of halal tourism would amount to 200 billion US dollars by 2020. That is why the development of this kind of tourism is becoming even more important, especially in countries where tourism represents a strategic industry.

And here’s what some of the roundtable participants said during the event…

The Secretary of the Tourism and Hospitality Committee in the Chamber of Commerce of Montenegro, Ms Sanja Marković, told halal tourism represents a new form of tourism offer, meeting the needs of Muslim tourists in terms of diet, dress and rituals.

According to Mr Ćazim Hodžić, Director General in the Directorate for the Development of Tourism Destination and Tourism Infrastructure, halal tourism can significantly enrich the Montenegrin tourism offer. He also noted that halal tourism brought 40% more arrivals to Croatia from Muslim states.

Ms Nina Vukčević, a spokeswoman of the National Tourism Organization, agreed that Montenegro must follow trends if it wishes to position itself as the world’s tourism destination.

She said: “A large number of tourists from the Middle East seek destinations which meet their needs.”

The representative of the Secretariat for Entrepreneurship Development in the Capital City, Mr Ebis Ljuljanović, told Podgorica Halal Fair was organized on 27-28 June for the first time and that “the capital, Podgorica, will continue supporting such events.”

Mr Arslan Hajdinaga, Director of the Association for Promotion and Development of the Islamic Economy in Montenegro, noted that this Association organized the first Montenegro Halal EXPO held in front of Sat Kula in Podgorica.

“Halal fairs are new to Podgorica which is not the case in the region, that is, in Albania, Kosovo, B&H and Serbia. I’m pleased to say that we recognized certain potentials in Montenegro, now we can use them and therefore organize events that promote halal industry, standards and tourism.”

Mr Aldin Dugonjić, head of the Certification Center for Halal in Croatia, had a presentation on halal tourism.

 

 

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