After 15 years of building CrescentRating, Fazal takes plunge into consumer waters
After launching CrescentRating in 2008 to rate hotels, and building up a solid research, advisory and consultancy business around halal travel, founder Fazal Bahardeen is ready to plunge into the competitive waters of B2C with its consumer brand, HalalTrip.com.
To improve the odds, he’s placed a young Millennial – Raudha Zaini, Strategic Partnerships & Projects Lead – to lead the consumer brand to target younger generation Muslim travellers.
“I am aware of the competition in the B2C space. We don’t really have a competitor in the B2B space because the services provided by CrescentRating are comprehensive, so it is rather intimidating to enter the space. But we are never frightened. The market is still very raw and no one has really captured the B2C halal travel market yet. We could be one of the few,” said Fazal, who’s self-funded the company since the beginning.
He called 2024 “a crucial year”. “The last two years were about recovery, this year is about competition, and we want to put a lot more effort into HalalTrip.”
Fazal, who’s put together a young team, 80% of whom are in their early 20s, with Raudha, who’s leading the move into the B2C space. “Younger Muslim travellers are becoming more independent and packages are not as appealing to my generation. We need different types of content and features.”
HalalTrip has existed as a website for a few years, offering city guides, a database of 10,000 geo-coded restaurants and 10,000 mosques as well as tools for Muslim travellers. Fazal first acquired the domain from an Austrian entrepreneur because he liked the name. It stayed dormant until 2015 when he redeveloped the website, hoping to get traction in the B2C side of the business with a content strategy. It also launched tour packages.
“It was tough. We got better traction on the B2B side, which now accounts for 95% of our business. But this is the year to go all in. We will start with offering bookings on our halal-rated hotels and invest in our content team.”
Gen Z represents 27.2% of global Muslim population
Added Raudha, “Younger Muslim travellers still rely on information online for inspiration as well as apps for features such as prayer time. But they are becoming more independent and packages are not as appealing to my generation. We need different types of content and features.”
Raudha said Gen Z travellers are pretty similar to Millennials. “The main difference is their ability to adapt better. For example, younger Muslim travellers don’t go up to a restaurant and ask, if it is halal. They already know because they’ve done their research, and they will find alternatives on their own.”
According to a CrescentRating and Mastercard report on “Muslim Gen Z: The Next Generation of Travellers”, issued January last year, the total Gen Z population is 2 billion, and the Muslim Gen Z population is 553 million, which represents 27.2% of the global Muslim population. (You can download the report here)
The report summarises their emerging characteristics as:
• Intentional Spenders: Gen Z Muslim travelers are conscious of their spending and tend to support locally-run establishments and initiatives that practice sustainability.
• Environment Enthusiasts: They are passionate about environmental issues and seek out experiences that are environmentally friendly.
• Social Activists: Gen Z Muslim travelers are socially conscious and support establishments that employ locals, pay fair wages, and contribute to the local community.
Their online behaviour does not seem to differ that much from other Gen Z travellers, relying on social media, online reviews, and influencers for inspiration and information about destinations.
Said the report, “Additionally, they engage with online communities and forums to ask questions and seek advice from experienced travelers. These online platforms provide them with visual content, personal stories, and practical tips that help them make informed decisions about their travel plans.”
Fazal said by 2028, the Muslim travel market will reach $225b, accounting for 11-12% of global travel expenditure. “In 2019, it was $160b, we expect 2024 to fully recover to that level.”
Managing and motivating a young team – “I tell them, don’t be afraid to make mistakes”
As part of its push into the consumer market, HalalTrip will join the local travel agents show, NATAS Travel Fair, on March 1-3 for the first time this year, promoting four key destinations – Uzbekistan, Taiwan, Bosnia, and Saudi
Raudha joined CrescentRating as an intern in 2015, and was asked to lead a project with the Indonesian tourism promotion board. “It’s been a good journey, fulfilling and meaningful to help women travellers like me find their community.”
Today, the company has grown from three staff to about 25, the majority of whom are located in Indonesia. “Other than me, the average age is 23-24, they form about 80% of our staff,” said Fazal. “I am impressed by them.”
To ensure he doesn’t dampen their style, Fazal said he stays away from meetings as much as he can. “In our societies, there is still a deference to age and they won’t express themselves as freely when I am there. I want to give them space to innovate. My main mission is to nurture their leadership. I tell them, don’t be afraid to make mistakes.”
He typically hires mainly interns, and prefers people with no experience in travel. “I am so impressed by youths in Indonesia, more than in Malaysia. The number of instances where we’ve brought in someone experienced, older, it’s generally not been successful.”
Why Fazal has self-funded the business
Fazal himself has proven he’s not afraid to take risks, launching CrescentRating at a time when hotels’ awareness of the halal market was low. “Selling ratings to hotels was not easy. That’s when I realised I needed data to back the story, so I started the research business, which is our key revenue source.”
Today, the company does education and upskilling of human resource through its CresentRating Academy. This year, it will offer a 14-hour training module to the University of Lugano, Switzerland, to its second year Masters students. It also works with tourism boards on capacity and capability building in places such as Fukuoka and Cape Town.
Fazal said HalalTrip gets about 300,000 visitors a month from markets such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, UK, and US, and parts of Middle East. To grow the brand, the company is launching the HalalTrip Gastronomy Awards at its own Halal in Travel Global Summit (HITGS) 2024, May 28-20 in Singapore. “We want it to be like the Michelin guide to halal restaurants. We started with 4,000 restaurants and have shortlisted to 105.”
Asked why he’s not gone out to raise funds, he said, “I’ve been doing this for 15 years, half of that time was in the red. I tried to raise funds but gave up. It’s a tough game, it’s a full time job and I’d rather focus on operations. Now we’re trying to grow organically.”
His vision is to become the Muslim lifestyle brand to cover travel, entertainment and lifestyle. “It will converge at some point. The target market is the same.”’
