I mean other than all three of the countries being in East Asia. In the name of greed and ignorance all three countries have rolled out the red carpet for Muslim tourists. Which means some restaurants in these countries have brought the halal food practice into their kitchens. All in the name of attracting Muslim tourists.

JAPAN

Japan will begin a model project during the current fiscal year to help regional communities attract more foreign visitors with diverse dietary and cultural habits, such as vegetarians and Muslims.

The Japan Tourism Agency will provide subsidies to promote the use of pictograms showing food ingredients, the development of menus for such visitors and the establishment of prayer spaces for Muslims.

SOUTH KOREA 

At 6:30 p.m. on the 26th, a grilled fish restaurant near Sinchon Station in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, was packed with customers. Over 40 seats were filled with Muslim tourists wearing hijabs. Pointing at menu photos as if familiar, they shouted “This one!” to staff. As grilled mackerel, Spanish mackerel, and spicy stir-fried squid arrived, they exclaimed, “Terbaik (the best)!”

This restaurant was originally popular with university students. However, after gaining word-of-mouth fame as a “Halal-friendly restaurant” among Muslim tourists, foreign sales now account for 70% over the past 2–3 years. “Halal” means “permitted” in Arabic, referring to food permissible for Muslims under Islamic law.

Now that halal is being accepted in South Korea do you believe Muslims will stop there? I don’t. They will just move onto wanting more concessions. Because they just do not care about the wants and beliefs of non-Muslims. As they believe all people belong to Allah whether they like it or not.

SNIP:

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, Muslim tourists increased from 360,000 in 2022 to 800,000 in 2023. Last year, 1.03 million visited, and as of October this year, 998,000 have arrived, suggesting Korea will surpass 1 million visitors for two consecutive years.

Taiwan

The people of Taiwan are famed for their welcoming nature, and so it should come as no surprise that the island was the chosen holiday destination for over 180,000 Muslims in 2014, a figure the tourism authority wants to double by 2018. And with that date fast approaching the local government have stepped up their efforts to ensure that visitors of the Muslim faith are made to feel especially welcome in Taiwan.

In its efforts, the tourism authority is currently encouraging hotels in Taiwan to install prayer rooms on-site and the Qibla (an arrow pointing to Mecca) in their rooms. These minor changes will cost hotels little, but the rewards will no doubt be great as they are seen as an incredibly welcoming gesture to their Muslim guests. There are also plans to open more officially licensed halal restaurants to cater for the expected rise in tourists from the Middle East and South East Asia. Currently, Taipei City only has 45 halal restaurants but the city mayor Ko Wen-je hopes that more will open in the near future.

SNIP:

And to make matters even easier for those wishing to travel here, President Tsai Ing-wen has extended visa-free travel privileges to a number of Muslim majority nations. This would cut down drastically on the time required to plan a holiday to Taiwan and would see a jump in last-minute bookings.

Common sense says that the more these countries or any other ones cater to Muslims the more Muslims will want to live in them.

How did catering to Muslims work out for Europe?