HKTB Organises Seminar on Hong Kong Restaurants Halal Certification Funding Scheme Application with Over 250 Trade Participants

Post Date: 12 Oct 2025
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HKTB Organises Seminar on Hong Kong Restaurants Halal Certification Funding Scheme Application with Over 250 Trade Participants

 

HKTB Partners with Various Sectors to Elevate Hospitality to Capture the High-Potential Muslim Markets 

 

 

As suggested by the latest Policy Address, the Government encourages the trade to introduce more tourism offerings with Muslim-friendly tourism facilities and food and beverage service. The Hong Kong Tourism Board (HKTB) organised a “Tapping into the Muslim Market: Hong Kong Restaurants Halal Certification Funding Scheme Seminar” on Friday (10 October) to introduce the new funding scheme to more than 250 trade partners in the F&B, hotel and tourism sectors. The seminar also invited restaurants that has recently obtained halal certifications to share their experiences and tips on becoming halal-friendly establishments, with a view to joining the concerted efforts of trade partners to enhance Hong Kong’s Muslim-friendly tourism assets and elevate the city’s capacity in receiving tourists and enrich visitor experience. Ms Rosanna Law, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, Dr Peter Lam, HKTB Chairman, Ms Vivian Sum, Permanent Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Mrs Angelina Cheung, Commissioner for Tourism attended the seminar.

 

Ms Rosanna Law encouraged the local trade to proactively apply for halal certification in her speech: “The new Hong Kong Restaurants Halal Certification Funding Scheme outlined by the Policy Address reflects the Hong Kong SAR Government's proactiveness on the policy aspects. We hope to motivate more trade partners to participate in halal certification through the Funding Date: 12 October 2025 Total pages: 4 2 Scheme, so as to further elevate Hong Kong's overall capacity in receiving visitors and to reinforce Hong Kong's competitiveness in global Muslim tourism markets. The seminar not only showcases the local trade’s dedication in establishing Hong Kong as a Muslim-friendly destination, but also highlights the Government's determination to strengthen connection with Muslim visitor source markets through close collaboration with the trade.”

 

 

Dr Peter Lam said, “Through the collaborative efforts of the Hong Kong SAR Government, HKTB and local trade partners, Hong Kong has achieved new breakthroughs as a Muslim-friendly destination. In the latest ‘Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2025, Hong Kong was ranked third in the ‘Muslim-friendly Destinations (non-Organisation of Islamic Cooperation)’, rising from the fourth place in the previous year and becoming a top 3 destination for the first time. Hong Kong is also named the ‘Most Promising Muslim-friendly Destination of the Year’. Such an achievement is made possible with the staunch support and active participation from our trade partners. Looking ahead, HKTB will continue to closely collaborate with the travel trade, the F&B and other tourism-related sectors to furhter elevate Hong Kong’s capacity in receiving Muslim visitors.”

Mufti Muhammad Arshad, Chief Imam of Hong Kong, noted, “I want to express my gratitude to the chief executive, Mr John Lee, for his vision to promote Hong Kong as a Muslim-friendly travel destination. I commend Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism and Hong Kong Tourism Board for taking practical steps in realizing this vision. This move drives more restaurants to obtain halal certification, and is beneficial for more than 300,000 local and visiting Muslims to enjoy a wider variety of food options.” 

 

The seminar attracted more than 250 representatives from interested restaurant, hotels and the tourism sector. During the seminar, HKTB introduced the new Hong Kong Restaurants Halal Certification Funding Scheme and its newly developed online training kit for receiving Muslim tourists. Restaurant representatives, including those from major hotel restaurant, local noodle shops and seafood restaurants, also shared their real-case experiences in preparing for and obtaining halal certifications.

 

Industry shares how Halal certification helps restaurants attract Muslim travellers


With island-hopping tourism becoming a trend, Ms Wendy Chan, Executive Director of Lamma Rainbow Seafood Restaurant noted that outlying islands are attractive among tourists, especially with the renowned local seafood cuisines. Yet there wasn’t a halal-certified seafood restaurant in the territory before, which inspired her to apply for the certification for her restaurant. She pointed out that most of the dishes offered at her restaurant are made of seafood, and the ingredients of pork or frog meat are avoided when they design a halal menu. Ingredients and seasonings with alcohol are not use as well. Chefs also test the cooking and taste the dishes from time to time to resolve challenges arising from the development. There are also a lot of halalcertified seasonings in the market, making it easy for her restaurant to get the ingredients.

 

Running Café Kool in the hotel, Mr Christopher Chia, General Manager of Kowloon Shangri-La, stressed that visitors come from all around the world to stay in a hotel, including Muslim guests, and it is necessary to satisfy the dining needs of gusts staying in the hotel. He recounted that, after the hotel obtained halal-certification, more Muslim travellers came to stay in the hotel or dine in. More important, the certification gives Muslim visitors confidence in the hotel. He added that the hotel also trains its employees to help them understand the preference, customs and culture of Muslim guests, enhancing their ability in serving Muslim guests.

 

Halal certification is open to restaurants of all segments. The Tsim Sha Tsui branch of Lady 13 Kitchen, which offers contemporary noodles in Hong Kong-style, was successfully certified as a halal-friendly restaurant. Founder Ms Tina Lam said that the certificate helps open up new clientele. After obtaining the certificate, not only has she gained more local Muslim customers, there are more tourists visiting her shop on purpose just to get a taste of local dishes, contributing to about 4-5% increase of business. She confessed that, at first, she did have reservations for offering both halal and secular dishes in one place; however, she suggested that it is not difficult to meet the requirements as long as a restaurant maps out a standard operating procedure to ensure ingredients, tools and utensils are prepared and stored separately.

 

 

  

HKTB enhances Muslim visitor experience jointly with local trade partners 


HKTB adopts a three-pronged approach of “certification, education and promotion” to optimise Muslim-friendly tourism experiences together with trade partners. The number of halalcertified restaurants in town has increased from about 100 in early 2024 to more than 190 now. HKTB hopes the new Hong Kong Restaurants Halal Certification Funding Scheme will encourage more F&B establishments to apply to the certification to enhance Muslim visitor’s dining experience with more diverse options.

 

Restaurants successfully receiving for a recognised Halal certification between 17 September 2025 and 31 December 2026 are entitled to a 50% application fee subsidy, capped at HK$5,000. Interestsed trade members can visit the dedicated webpage of the Scheme to download the application guidelines and an application form. Alternatively, interested parties can call 2807 6593 or email halal@hktb.com for inquiries.