ITC WINS HALAL AWARD FOR STRENGTHENING BRANDING AND PARTNERSHIPS IN ISLAMIC TOURISM LANDSCAPE

PUTRAJAYA, MALAYSIA, 4 MAY 2021 – The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) through its agency, Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) received the Strategic Business Alliance Award at The BrandLaureate World Halal Best Brands E-Branding Awards 2021 yesterday, a recognition of its 12-year leadership in developing Islamic Tourism and Muslim-Friendly Tourism and Hospitality (MFTH) products and services in Malaysia.

The award reflects ITC’s efforts in embracing “new thinking, new actions, new results” during the pandemic in which ITC was seen to strengthen its efforts through local, regional, and international collaborations, whilst engaging deeply with stakeholders and partners, and exploring technology and digital solutions, to deliver its products and services.

YB Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy Shukri, Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture said, “This award is yet another key milestone moment for Islamic Tourism Centre in its mission to position Malaysia as a global hub for Islamic Tourism and Hospitality of international standards and quality.”

“It speaks of ITC’s commitment to grow the Islamic Tourism landscape through collaborations and partnerships with industry stakeholders, and strong branding. ITC has done Malaysia proud with this achievement, a testament to its dedication in the face of the global pandemic challenge. With further support from all sectors of the industry, I believe that ITC can achieve more for Malaysia and beyond!” she added.

When ITC was established in 2009, it was a bold initiative to develop a strategic approach in developing and addressing the emerging Islamic Tourism market. Since the beginning, ITC embraced the role of a dedicated agency overseeing matters relating to Islamic tourism and provided much-needed direction for the industry. It has since supported MOTAC in undertaking strategic tourism research and market intelligence as well as providing training and capacity-building services in relation to Islamic tourism.

Over the course of ITC’s operations in the past 12 years, it has gained the recognition, trust, praise, and buy-in from various industry stakeholders. This had led to a transformation among industry players in terms of knowledge, awareness, and action, the outcome being a growing interest in tapping the Muslim tourist market as well as a flourishing supply-side in Islamic tourism.

Besides this, ITC has also established a strong network of local, regional and global partners at government, academia, association, and industry levels. These partnerships have helped to strengthen ITC’s delivery of services and influence as well as cement its reputation in the international arena as a reference point on all things related to Islamic Tourism and MFTH.

According to YB Dato’ Sri Hajah Nancy, the award not only bodes well for ITC, but also for MOTAC, raising the international profile of the Ministry as well as Malaysia as a pioneer and leader in championing Islamic Tourism and MFTH.

Background on BrandLaureate Awards

The BrandLaureate Awards is a subsidiary of The World Brands Foundation (TWBF). Founded in 2005, TWBF is the world’s only branding foundation dedicated to developing brands in various industries.

TWBF functions actively in identifying and nurturing outstanding brands on an international platform. It strives to champion its mission, to educate and communicate the “value of branding” with the concept that brand culture, combined with good practices will give brands the edge in this competitive environment.

Since 2018, TWBF has created another awards platform to honour the Halal industry and its ecosystem, branding it the World Halal Best Brands Awards. 2021 marks the third edition of the awards, and its maiden run digitally with the theme “Digitalise to Globalise Your Brand. Past recipients of awards in this segment include Public Mutual, Department of Islamic Development Malaysia (JAKIM), Korea Muslim Federation, Teh Tarik Place, and Swisslab Biotech, among others.

The category of award for which ITC was named recipient, Strategic Business Alliance Award, seeks to recognise brands that are standing strong, sustaining brand success and brand leadership by adopting new strategies to meet the new normal of the business environment, thus honouring entities who have brought business continuity and sustainability despite difficult situations.

For more information on the award, check out here: https://www.thebrandlaureate.com/world-halal-bestbrands-2021/

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Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) is an entity under the Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Malaysia tasked to develop the Islamic tourism (IT) segment for Malaysia. It advocates for Muslim-friendly tourism (MFT) by offering research and market intelligence, training, industry development consultation, Muslim-friendly tourism and hospitality (MFTH) services standards and certification, and information exchange.

In 2021, ITC was named the recipient of the Strategic Business Alliance Award at The BrandLaureate World Halal Best Brand E-Branding Awards 2021. It is a recognition of ITC’s efforts and endeavours in formulating new strategies to meet the new normal of the business environment to ensure business continuity and sustainability, notwithstanding its role to develop and grow the IT segment in Malaysia.

In addition, Malaysia was named top country in the region in the MFT sector by the State of the Global Islamic Economy (SGIE) Report 2020/21. 

Both recognitions are added motivation for ITC to continue to strengthen its efforts in being a prime mover and leading institution to ensure Malaysia is at the forefront of MFTH.

For further details, kindly contact:

Islamic Tourism Centre,
Level 13, Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia
No. 2 Tower 1, Jalan P5/6,
Precinct 5, 62200 Putrajaya, Malaysia

Tel: 03-8891 7177 or via email itc@mymuslimtrip.com/v2