Megaworld bets on halal travel: Inside the making of PH's first Muslim-friendly hotel chain

At the bustling Arabian Travel Mart in Dubai last year, the Philippines found itself on a bigger stage. There, Megaworld Hotels & Resorts (MHR) signed a landmark agreement with the department of tourism (DOT) - a pact that went beyond hospitality and touched on culture, inclusivity, and global opportunity.

Among MHR’s commitments was one that stood out: to redefine Philippine hospitality by embracing Muslim travellers, a vision recognised on the world map when it was named at the CrescentRating Halal in Travel Awards as the country’s first-ever ‘Muslim-friendly hotel chain.’

For Cleofe Albiso (pictured), managing director of MHR, the pledge was never just about corporate branding. It was about opening doors - for Muslim travellers seeking comfort and familiarity in the Philippines, and for the country itself to embrace a growing global market.

“Being first is a bonus, but that is not the main goal. It is really more to support the country because we know that the Muslims are a market that remains an opportunity for us to really capture,” Albiso said in an interview with MARKETING-INTERACTIVE. The move, she indicates, is about building bridges - between faith and travel, business and nation, vision and execution.

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A niche market with nation-building potential

While the Philippines is predominantly Christian, it also has a sizeable Muslim population of around 6.9 million, most of whom live in Mindanao but with growing communities in urban centres. This presence is reflected not only in daily social life but also within the workforce, including the hospitality sector. For Filipino hotels, accommodating Muslim guests is therefore less an unfamiliar challenge and more a recognition of existing cultural and demographic realities.

What makes MHR’s move significant is that it provides the private-sector execution needed for the Philippines to solidify its newly acquired status. “If our country has been awarded as an emerging Muslim-friendly destination, the only way for that award to fully have roots and be grounded on actions and implementations is a private sector that will implement that,” Albiso said.

The challenges of pursuing a niche market were evident from the outset, but MHR approached it with deliberate planning and strategy. At the core is its identity as a homegrown brand, one that Albiso says carries a responsibility beyond business. “True to being homegrown, we always put a vision of contributing to tourism in our country, not just as an industry but really on nation building,” she explained.

There is also the dimension of inclusivity. With 13 operational hotel properties and a target of 9,000 hotel rooms soon in the pipeline, MHR is expanding in a world where global boundaries are increasingly porous and hospitality is expected to embrace diversity.

Fourteen months on from the agreement, part of that drive has involved certifying halal kitchens across all MHR hotels - something Albiso points out is more than a headline gesture.

“You can certify one, and that’s an editorial story already. You can certify two and then you can talk about it being a commitment. But we worked on all - we certified all our hotels.”

Defining 'Muslim-friendly' in practice

For MHR, inclusivity is not a rhetorical flourish but a structured priority. Besides certifying halal kitchens across all of its hotel properties, the company has invested heavily in staff education. Training sessions moved beyond culinary compliance, introducing greetings and facility adjustments such as prayer mats, qibla indicators, and wash basins for ablution. The aim was to build internal buy-in across departments, from housekeeping to front office, embedding cultural sensitivity into daily operations.

Alongside the DOT, MHR worked with the halal international chamber of commerce and industries of the Philippines (HICCIP) to roll out the training.

This structured approach extends to influencer partnerships, food innovation, and product development. A notable example is the Marhaba Beach Cove in Boracay - a 300-metre private beach designed with Muslim women and families in mind. The initiative has drawn international recognition, particularly within halal travel circles, as a model of how hospitality can adapt to specific cultural needs.

The strategy is also reshaping workforce dynamics. While Muslim employees were already part of MHR’s staff, its Muslim-friendly stance has become a recruitment magnet, broadening opportunities across its expanding portfolio of projects. This links to the firm’s wider “circle of happiness” philosophy, which emphasises care for self, family, work, and community, anchored by faith in God or a Creator regardless of religion.

"We've created a culture that's born out of respect for each other with the desire for our group to be cognizant of the many facets of the circle of happiness.”

With nearly 3,000 employees, the firm still has vast opportunities ahead, driven by its expanding portfolio of projects. Complementing its “circle of happiness” philosophy, the brand draws on the sampaguita - the Philippine national flower - as a symbol of excellence, reflecting the warmth and hospitality Filipinos are renowned for, evident in offerings and service that engage all five senses.

Marketing the proposition

From a marketing standpoint, MHR’s efforts span both domestic and international channels. “The first few steps that we took is to make sure that our own local universe here gets to know about the effort because we’ve got our own 6.9 million Muslims who can potentially spread the word to their own spheres of influence,” Albiso explained.

Beyond local awareness, MHR has partnered with foreign ambassadors, OTAs, and channel managers across Muslim-majority markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, and the UAE. Feature campaigns, travel expos, and DOT-led promotions all amplify the message.

The results are tangible: these combined efforts have already generated around 19 million pesos (US$333,000) in revenue from the Muslim market, Albiso revealed. Significant opportunities also lie ahead, with Muslim MICE organisers having already booked events in the coming months.

Albiso positions MHR not simply as a participant in the government’s halal tourism agenda but as a force helping to define it. For her, industry recognition alone is insufficient; it must be matched by visible private-sector initiatives. In this framing, MHR’s efforts raise expectations for both real estate and hospitality players, setting benchmarks that others in the market will be compelled to follow.

Already, Albiso notes, other local hotel groups have followed MHR’s lead with their own certifications. “It also gives us the motivation to do more. We’re happy where we are. We’re happy to be the first mover.”

Looking beyond revenue

Although revenue from Muslim travellers accounts for only a small portion of MHR’s year-to-date earnings of 2.5 billion pesos (US$43.9 million), Albiso emphasises the broader significance of the initiative.

“When you capture business, understand a culture of a group, create a deeper connection because you have not really fully understood them, but you take an effort to have an appreciation of the culture. It creates mutual respect, and it is only by doing so that you actually get to steer your own personal interest and get to learn to know them,” she reflected.

Albiso calls this one of the most meaningful phases of her career: “I’ve never had this much appreciation of a culture that’s actually out there. You see them, you talk about them, you know they exist. But learning, appreciating and creating mutual respect is just a deeper purpose. It will keep us going.”

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