App for Muslim travellers

BANGKOK  Muslim visitors can download a brand new app that helps them source Halal food and specific attractions linked to Islam.
It is the first religion-specific app guide for visitors to Thailand, based on the fact that the ASEAN region has a substantial Muslim population.
The app, introduced by the Tourism Authority of Thailand, comes in iOS and Android versions is also available as an offline guidebook to help Muslim visitors find mosques, halal restaurants and hotels, shopping centres with prayer rooms, and other facilities that are of a cultural or religious importance to Muslim travellers.
Initially, in English and Thai the app will be offered in Arabic and Bahasa Indonesia in the future.
PrintA navigation feature helps to locate specific places and estimate the time it will take to get there from a users’ current location.
It was developed with the support of the Halal Science Centre of Chulalongkorn University, the Foundation of the Islamic Centre of Thailand, Halal Standards Institute of Thailand and the Tourism Council of Thailand.
TAT’s acting governor, Juthaporn Rerngronasa, said: “We are especially happy to launch this App in the holy month of Ramadan. We hope it will be useful to the many Muslim visitors from Indonesia and Malaysia who may choose to visit Thailand during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr (Hari Raya) holidays at the end of the month.”
The primary aim is to improve travel arrivals from the 240 million-strong Islamic populations of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
Muslim travellers mainly from the Middle East have been a major target group for some time especially to boost travel during Thailand’s rainy season.
Middle East travellers are a top source for medical tourism especially for hospitals in Bangkok.
Thailand is ranked second in the world by the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2015.
Juthaporn added that there was a whole new generation of young Thai-Muslims, nationwide, and it is “very important for them to be able to seek promising opportunities in the tourism sector.”
TAT has also produced a number of printed guidebooks and brochures to help Muslim visitors; such as, “Halal Check-in Thailand (which contains a list of halal-certified restaurants) and Islamic Attractions in Southernmost Provinces (Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani).

sourced:ttrweekly.com