Municipal officials in Daegu have announced that a halal assured Korean restaurant is expected to open soon. (Image : Yonhap)
DAEGU, Aug.31 (Korea Bizwire) – Municipal officials in Daegu have announced that a halal assured Korean restaurant is expected to open soon. Korean restaurants catering to Muslim tourists are still relatively rare, as currently there is only one halal assured Korean restaurant in Seoul.
City officials announced that they would be supporting a Korean Muslim to open a halal assured Korean restaurant, in a bid to attract Muslim tourists. The city is planning to increase its number of halal assured restaurants, and increase the quantity of produce from Daegu that is halal assured. In addition, hotels have been advised to open cleansing rooms and prayer rooms.
Halal means that Muslims can eat and use a product according to Islamic law. It is a very strict lifestyle for Muslims that applies to food, medicine and several other products.
There are over 2,000 Muslims living in Daegu, and considering the industrial workers in the area, the regional population is estimated to be around 5,000. Considering the size of population, the city expects that the halal Korean restaurant will have marketability.
The local government found out that there were a number of Korean Muslims hoping to run a halal Korean restaurant at the Islam center in Jukjeon-dong, and is planning to support them financially.
Muslims are said to be the second largest big player in the international sightseeing market after Chinese. Approximately 750,000 Muslims visited Korea last year. The number of Muslims visiting Korea has increased 19% every year for the past 5 years.
Officials from the local government plan to attract Muslim tourists to the city. As a first step, they are targeting Muslims in Indonesia and other South East Asian countries. “A lot of Muslim tourists want to taste local foods, so in order to attract them, halal assured restaurants are a must.”
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
