Mr Ricky Shawn Lim (centre), owner of Penang Culture, recently converted his non-halal restaurant at Gurney Drive into Penang Street Buffet, a halal restaurant offering buffet spread. He works closely with chefs Hajjah Masri Ali (left) and Mr Wong Thin Lipp to ensure the best spread for customers. Since converting the restaurant, business there has surged by 30 percent and Muslim customers now make up 70 percent of his clientele.
Photo: Berita Harian
GEORGE TOWN: Kuala Lumpur and Penang are the favorite cities among global Muslim travelers, with both landing in the top 10 list in a recent survey.
The cities came in second and ninth respectively in a poll that pit them against 40 international cities affiliated with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
Called the Muslim Travel Shopping Index 2015, the survey was created by MasterCard and CrescentRating, which is touted as the world’s leading authority on halal or Muslim-friendly travel.
With non-OIC countries included for comparison, Kuala Lumpur still held on to the second spot but Penang dropped slightly to 11th place in a study that placed Dubai as the clear favorite among Muslim travelers (mtsi.crescentrating.com).
Tourism Malaysia deputy director-general (Strategic and Domestic) Chong Yoke Har described the recognition for both cities as testimony that Malaysia had emerged as an appealing shopping destination.
“Shopping overtook accommodation in the first half of this year with the biggest share of 29.6% or RM10bil out of the total receipts of RM33.8bil,” said Chong when launching the 1Malaysia Year-End Shopping (MYES) Maps here yesterday.
The four maps cover the Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Putrajaya), Penang, Johor and Malacca, as well as Sabah and Sarawak.
Chong said the maps indicate the locations of major shopping precincts at the main gateways and places of interest.
The maps also contain useful information such as the Tourist Refund Scheme, which has a step-by-step guide on how foreign tourists could claim GST refunds after spending RM300 on a single receipt, she added.
Refund validation counters are located at KLIA, KLIA2, as well as airports at Subang, Kuantan, Senai, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu.
MYES, which begins during the year-end school holidays and festive period, is supported by 758 retailers and shopping malls nationwide from Nov 14 to Jan 3 next year.
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