CrescentRating
It is so common to mention a hotel by specifying what “star” hotel it is, but did you know that Muslims also have a rating system to identify how Muslim-friendly an entity is?
Necessity happens to be the mother of all inventions, and this necessity triggered the establishment of CrescentRating. As a corporate executive for a multinational company, Fazal Bahardeen traveled a lot over the years. However, the hospitality industry, in general, did not know how to cater to a growing segment of Muslim travelers like him. In the past, many people experienced difficulty primarily in finding Halal food in different countries. Still, in 2006, he decided to do something about it, and the idea of developing a system to rate hotels slowly started to “take root”.
The domain “crescentrating.com” was registered in early 2007, but it became an entity by 2008. During this time, Fazal undertook a lot of research to replicate the “star” rating system, but with criteria relevant to Muslims. The initial objective when the company started was to develop an algorithm that would rate the Muslim friendliness of hotels on a scale of 7 by analyzing the services offered at the hotel.
Let us fast forward to 2021, and we will see how CrescentRating has evolved with changes in the market and specific demands from the Halal industry. Rating hotels has now become a tiny portion of what CrescentRating does. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss their product line.
We can categorize CrescentRating’s services into three groups:
1. Education & awareness: involves educating and enhancing the know-how of the Halal market to all stakeholders with leveled courses offered through their training academy. CrescentRating also publishes periodic research publications & reports and organizes Halal and Travel related events.
a. The training and certification courses have three levels. Level 1 programs are self-learning programs that are entirely online. Levels 2 and 3 were in-person programs. However, due to the pandemic, Level 2 is also offered online. Level 3 was temporarily halted but will resume shortly insha’Allah. Level 1 and 2 programs train service providers and managers to be able to cater to Muslim travelers. Level 3 programs are the Executive programs offered to top management. It is a 5-day comprehensive program held in Singapore with top academicians.
b. CrescentRating partners with higherlevel institutions and relevant government entities to conduct research & analysis. For instance, Murdoch University in Australia participated in the study of the millennial Muslim market. Depending on projects, they are willing to partner with other organizations to collect data and analyze them. Approximately 3 - 4 reports are published annually.
2. Capacity and capability building: involves research and consultancy for hospitality companies, tourism boards, and even countries. The rating services are also incorporated here. What started as rating hotels has now expanded to include restaurants, airlines, malls, hospitals, travel agents, activities, spas, attractions, ferries, and, more importantly, countries.
a. Country-wide rating: The Global Muslim Travel Index looks at approximately 40 data points to rank countries on how Muslim Friendly they are. This joint Mastercard CrescentRating publication released annually is targeted at governments to prepare their country better to welcome Muslim travelers. The initial report ranked ten countries, and now it incorporates and ranks more than 140 countries.
b. Hotel ratings: based on seven levels, this rating is valid for one year. It is a subscriptionbased model, so you must undergo an annual inspection of your services to renew your halal star ratings. The rating methodology hasn’t changed much since the Muslim traveler requirements identified initially hold today too. CrescentRating carries out the onsite audits in collaboration with their local representatives or the respective Governments. During the pandemic, the audits were held virtually via video calls.
c. Travel touchpoint service ratings: each business segment, facility, or establishment to be accredited has a different set of rigorous criteria to meet.
3. Destination marketing: involves developing, distributing, and promoting digital content for different destinations and creating Muslim visitor guides.
The Halal industry has made significant strides since 2008. Before this time, there was not much awareness of this market or its importance. However, halal consciousness has grown amongst the Muslim community, especially in countries where Muslims are a minority. Despite there being many positive trends in terms of the Halal market growth, unfortunately, there still is a lot to be desired to make this market segment sustainable with enough consumers looking for this particular service.
The Halal industry has made significant strides since 2008. Before this time, there was not much awareness of this market or its importance. However, halal consciousness has grown amongst the Muslim community, especially in countries where Muslims are a minority. Despite there being many positive trends in terms of the Halal market growth, unfortunately, there still is a lot to be desired to make this market segment sustainable with enough consumers looking for this particular service.
Over time, thanks to the efforts of CrescentRating, Muslims are starting to understand what countries are offering them better facilities. The exciting surprise is to see countries with a Muslim minority like Singapore, Taiwan, etc., put in an extra effort to enhance their services in anticipation of the growth of the Halal Tourism market.
