The Halal Tourism Conference 2015, which was set to take place in Turkey this December, has been delayed to March 2016. The event is expected to bring together delegates from across the world to discuss and shape the agenda of halal travel, one of the fastest-growing sectors in the world.
Organiser Tasneem Mahmood, from CM Media, says the three-month postponement is positive news and will ensure a 'bigger and more successful' conference. An increase in demand and attendance by ministerial delegates from across the world has forced CM Media to postpone the event, she says. 'All of the delegates currently booked on have been very positive with the news and we will honour everyone who has already booked on and move them to the March event.' Some of the confirmed exhibitors so far are Shaza Hotels, Cape Town Tourism, CrescentRating, HalalTrip, OIC Today, Turkish Airlines, Sura Hotel Group, Türsab Association of Turkish Travel Agencies, the Standards and Metrology Institute for the Islamic Countries (SMIIC) and Halal Voyage. Organisers claim that the move to March will now see more than 1,200 delegates from more than 50 countries descend to Istanbul for the event. This is only the second international conference on halal tourism to take place in Europe. Last year’s inaugural event saw about 400 delegates visit Andalucia, Spain.CM Media will partner with Tura Turizm to deliver the event, which is expected to attract tourism boards, tour agencies, tour operators, restaurants, media, hotels, airlines and suppliers to the travel sector. The event will feature seminars from industry experts, workshops, networking sessions and an exhibition.A series of workshops will provide with information on developing the industry, including the launch of new products, luxury travel, standardisation, finance and investment, Hajj and Umrah providers, diversifying the halal tourism offer and the growing medical tourism sector.The Halal Tourism Conference 2015 will now take place from March 21 to March 23 2015 at the Istanbul Convention & Exhibition Centre. It will be followed by a two-day tour of Istanbul to provide businesses with a live case study of a region that is becoming more Muslim friendly and is actively working to meet the needs of Muslim travellers.The Muslim Travel market segment was estimated to be worth $145 billion in 2014 according to the latest figures in the MasterCard-CrescentRating Global Muslim Travel Index 2015. This is predicted to grow to $200 billion by 2020.