On September 3, Bárbara Ruiz-Bejarano, director of the Las Fuentes Foundation, presented the “Red de Medinas” project at the World Conference on Halal Tourism, the first edition of which was dedicated to the legendary Maghreb traveler Ibn Battuta and focused on sustainable and inclusive tourism.

Ruiz-Bejarano emphasized the importance of digital platforms such as the Red de Medinas because they allow for “the integration and coordination of the different links in the tourism value chain,” from lodging to transportation, dining, leisure, and culture. The Red de Medinas is a digital platform that aims to recover and promote the vast Al-Andalus heritage of Spain and Portugal in order to highlight its value and present it in an organized manner to thousands of tourists interested in cultural destinations.

The first edition of the World Halal & Tourism Conference featured experts from Malaysia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, the United States, Brunei, Australia, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Spain. The nine speakers participated in an online forum jointly organized by various universities and organizations in Malaysia and Thailand, notably the Islamic Tourism Authority.

The program for the World Conference on Halal Tourism is complemented by visits to Krabi, a well-known tourist destination in Thailand, to examine how various vacation services—including restaurants and lodging—are organized and coordinated.