TALADRADORA PARA PAPEL / Riesgos / OR010

With a population of approximately 26 million Malaysia is one of the most developed nations in Southeast Asia (Chang, 2006). According to Shamsudin and Selamat (2005) Malaysians, whose median age is 22 years old, are adventurous in their eating habits particularly the young. They like to try out new eating-places as recommended by friends and relatives as eating out is common and is relatively inexpensive. Furthermore, the multicultural character of the population contributes to the availability of different types of cuisine which may also contribute to the attractiveness of eating out. In addition, Malaysia’s consumer lifestyle has been evolving and changing due to rising income and education level (Shamsudin & Selamat, 2005). Indeed, the numbers of Malaysians who study overseas then return home is also contributing to the growing cosmopolitanism of Malaysian taste. The Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia (2008) reported that 54,915 Malaysian students sponsored by the government were studying abroad in 2007 as well as the growth in international tourism arrivals.

The development of Malaysia’s tourism industry has also contributed towards the growth of the food service industry in Malaysia (Chang 2006). The growth in tourism is expected to fuel the growth of restaurants offering international cuisines such as Middle Eastern and Latin American food. In 2005, the tourist arrivals reached 16.4 million and the number is expected to reach 24 million in 2010. In this context, the Malaysian government placed high emphasis on domestic and international tourism because of its actual and potential contribution to the country’s income and employment (Henderson, 2009b). To date, the Tourism Ministry has reported that Malaysia recorded an increase of 1.4 percent to 1,896,918 tourist arrivals in January 2010 compared with the same month last year (Bernama, 2010).

74

Tourism is seen as an increasingly globalised sector where inter-destination competition is becoming intense (Zailani et al., 2011). Muslim tourists, particularly those from West Asia are increasingly discerning and require access to more sophisticated holiday destinations and halal dining. Here, Muslim tourists demand foods and services according to their religious tenets that makes the requirements for halal compliance has become more prevalent. Zailani et al. (2011) further mentioned that Malaysia has taken the lead in the Islamic or halal tourism industry and has been successfully attracting Muslim tourists from all over the world specifically the Middle Eastern travelers by offering facilities that comply with their religious beliefs and values.

Henderson (2009a) defined Islamic tourism as tourism mainly by Muslims although it can extend to unbelievers motivated to travel by Islam which takes place in the Muslim world. However, Zailani et al. (2011) believed that halal tourism is on offering tour packages and destinations that are particularly designed to cater for Muslim considerations and address Muslim needs that is not being applied to food but includes any Shariah compliant products ranging from bank dealings to cosmetics and vaccines.

Malaysia has seen this latest trend as an opportunity due to September 11 incident where there is a significant shift to other destinations as the Middle Eastern travelers inclined to go on holiday and invest their money in the US and Europe due to increasing security measures and difficulties in obtaining visas. In essence, being a Muslim majority country, Malaysia is among the preferred country as it is able to cater to most of their needs. In order to fulfill their needs, the shopping malls in Malaysia usually have many halal restaurants, Arabic signs and also a surau or prayer room that make it more convenient for these Muslim tourists to shop (Zailani et al., 2011).

The annual visitation figure of tourists to Malaysia is shown in Table 4.1. In fact, domestic tourists are also being encouraged to spend their holidays within the country as was aggressively promoted in ‘Cuti Cuti Malaysia’ (no English translation) when it was first launched in 2004 that promoted quality tourism (Henderson, 2009b). Chang (2006) also found that Malaysians often chose to eat at open air and street stalls. However, international cuisines are also increasingly being demanded as a result of the rising affluence and education levels of the consumers whose shopping and eating lifestyles have changed drastically in recent years. Klang Valley and other major cities that offer fine dining restaurants and food service outlets are popular restaurant spots where spending power and population concentration are higher.

75 Table 4.1: Tourist Arrivals to Malaysia

Year Arrivals (Million)

2009 23.6 2008 22.0 2007 20.9 2006 17.45 2005 16.4 2004 15.7 2003 10.5 2002 13.2 2001 12.7 2000 10.2 1999 7.9 1998 5.5

Source: Tourism Malaysia (2010)

The food service sector in Malaysia is highly composed of small to medium sized players with over 80% of the eating establishments from small family-owned businesses (Foreign Agricultural Service/USDA, 2000). According to Shamsudin and Selamat (2005), there were 172,252 food service entities including stalls and restaurants in Malaysia in 2001. However, as noted in Chapter One there are several ways of categorizing restaurants in Malaysia. Kueh and Voon (2007) argued that foodservice premises in Malaysia include restaurants, street stalls and pubs/bars. In addition, rated hotels and resorts serve food and drinks through their food and beverage restaurants and other food service outlets within their premises. Restaurants may both offer limited-service or full-service facilities and involve limited, medium contact encounters between customers and service providers.

In contrast, Heng and Guan (2007) classified the food service industry in Malaysia into five main categories, namely dine-in restaurants (including hotel coffee houses), fast food outlets, coffee shops, food courts or hawker centres and roadside hawkers. Although not included in this study, institutional catering also operates in cafeterias in schools, colleges, hospitals, and includes companies, which specialize in catering to airlines, special functions such as exhibitions, weddings, and corporate dinners alike (Kueh and Voon, 2007). As highlighted in Chapter One, the Chinese has dominated the business sector and their presence is significant especially in the urban areas on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Sin (1987) reported that 83.34% of the small industry establishments in Malaysia were Chinese owned that covered all kinds of business activities including food stalls and restaurants. In addition, statistics from JAKIM indicates that

76

95% of halal certification applications come from business entities owned by non-Muslims (Dahalan, 2008)

One of the few pieces of academic research on restaurants in Malaysia was a survey done by Josiam et al. (2007) on curry cuisine and perceptions of Indian restaurants in Malaysia. The survey found that restaurants in Malaysia operate with an increasingly more ethnically and culturally diverse customer base of locals and tourists and those consumers are interested in and accepted ethnic foods. The findings showed that the quality of food, cleanliness of restrooms, general hygiene and cleanliness and also value for money are important restaurant characteristics. The most important food attributes included the taste, spiciness and presentation of food, availability of vegetarian choices, new items and halal certification.