Tourism New Zealand has released an updated version of its Halal Food Guide with 51% more listings in a bid to provide Muslim travellers with more comprehensive halal culinary options around the country and improve overall visitor experience.
From modern Indian to South-east Asian and authentic Middle Eastern cuisine, Muslim travellers can now tuck into more halal-certified food around New Zealand well assured.
Tourism New Zealand has released an updated version of its Halal Food Guide with 51% more listings in a bid to provide Muslim travellers with more comprehensive halal culinary options around the country and improve overall visitor experience.
Building upon its first 2016 edition, the 2017/18 edition now includes an additional 289 restaurants and cafes that are either halal-certified or offer vegetarian or vegan cuisine. New regions such as Whangarei and Marlborough are also being featured.
Travellers can use the guide to identify halal-certified grocery stores and takeaway outlets.
The guide also provides general tourism information in addition to a total of 567 halal-certified listings, and was curated in partnership with the Kiwi Muslim Directory and the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ).
The listings have been classified into three categories – Halal Outlets certified by FIANZ, Halal Outlets owned by Muslims (owners of these outlets assure the food is halal), and Vegetarian (outlets that are not halal certified or owned by a Muslim person, but claim to be pure vegetarian).
Tourism New Zealand’s regional manager of South and South East Asia, Steven Dixon, said the updated guide demonstrates the organisation’s on-going commitment to better cater to the dining needs of Muslim travellers.
“We recognise the growth of halal tourism in the South-East Asia region and how important it is for Muslim visitors to have easy access to timely information about suitable dining options when travelling,” he added.
Hazim Arafeh, president of the Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand said the Halal Food Guide provides an invaluable source of information to all Muslim travellers coming to New Zealand, at a time when the halal tourism market is booming globally.
Highlights from the guide include Bawarchi Indian Restaurant in Central Auckland, Garudas Food Truck in Wellington, The Herb Centre Café in Christchurch, and KL Aroma Restaurant in Dunedin.
The Halal Food Guide is available for download on the Tourism New Zealand website https://www.newzealand.com/int/feature/halal-guide-for-new-zealand/.