Islamic hotels to hit the market

Dubai-based Almulla Hospitality is gearing towards making Islamic hotels a force to be reckoned with in the competitive hospitality sector.

Its chairman Abdullah Mohamed Almulla said that there is a huge market for Islamic hotels as more and more Muslims were travelling now not only for religious reasons but also for business and leisure.

"The Islamic hotel chain is a new industry, a new wave coming through," he told BERNAMA on the sidelines of the Global Halal and Islamic Business Forum held in conjunction with the Halal World Expo here recently.

He said that currently the market for Islamic hotels was very fragmented due to lack of professional management. Abdullah said that as such there was a need for an international Islamic hotel chain and Almulla Hospitality recognised this fact.

In line with this, the group had established three core brand names, Cliftonwood, Adham and Wings, to accommodate demand from Muslim and non-Muslim travellers, he said. He said that Almulla, which is a syariah compliant company, aimed to be the first Islamic international chain managing Islamic hotels.

The Dubai-based hospitality group had launched the three brands in October as part of its move to go forward in the industry. "We are currently in serious discussions with various investors to establish their hotels and we look forward if there any other investors with existing hotels who want to convert them to Islamic hotels," Abdullah said.

He also said that Islamic hotels were not only for the Muslims but also for non-Muslims. "Hospitality is a culture and as part of the halal hospitality culture we provide service to our community but since we are also an international hotel chain, we also provide international service," he explained.

Abdullah said that the Islamic hotels would also be for other nationalities, other religion and cultural backgrounds.