New mobile app caters to Muslim travelers

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Written by Linda Hohnholz

Irhal, a new Arabic/English mobile travel app, has been launched for Muslim travelers that will guide them to not only tourist attractions and shopping places in 90 cities around the world but will al

Irhal, a new Arabic/English mobile travel app, has been launched for Muslim travelers that will guide them to not only tourist attractions and shopping places in 90 cities around the world but will also lists the nearest Halal restaurants and mosques.

Prayer timings and a compass showing the direction of Makkah are also included in the app which can be downloaded free from the Apple or Android store.

โ€œOne of my biggest worries as a tourist has always been locating Halal restaurants. On Fridays I also worry about finding a mosque for Juma prayers,โ€ said Dr Irfan Ahmad, the CEO and founder of Irhal.com, a travel website and mobile app based in Dubai.

โ€œWe launched the Irhal.com website several years ago and in 2014 we received over 1 million unique visitors. But our users wanted to have the information on their smartphones so we developed the Irhal App,โ€ he said.

โ€œHotels and tourism organizations from Switzerland, Ireland and even Korea are contacting us to list their Muslim friendly offerings,โ€ said Dr Ahmad.

Islamic tourism is a $137 billion market and tourists from the GCC spend $40 billion every year, a recent study revealed. With more than 70 per cent mobile penetration and a lack of Arabic mobile content, Irhal aims to become the must-have resource for all Muslim travelers, it said.

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Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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