Facilities to Be Set up for Muslim Tourists During Pyeongchang Olympics

An artist's impression of a facility to be built in Gangneung, Gangwon Province to accommodate Muslim tourists

A prayer room for Muslim tourists will be provided during the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next month.

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Lack of prayer rooms has been cited as a major inconvenience among Muslim tourists. The tourism industry hopes they can fill the gap left by Chinese tourists, whose numbers are dwindling.

The Korea Tourism Organization said Sunday, "We will set up two mobile structures at a cost of about W40 million for Muslim tourists in Gangneung, Gangwon Province and start a test-run in early February".

They consist of prayer rooms accommodating five to six people along with a "Wudu" space for ritually washing parts of the body. A Quran and qibla will be provided along with a prayer mat. Kim Sung-hoon at the KTO, said, "In consideration of Islamic culture, there will be separate prayer rooms for men and women".

The number of Muslim tourists to Korea rose from 540,000 in 2012 to 930,000 in 2017. Thanks to growing popularity of K-pop and Korean dramas, a lot of Muslim tourists from Southeast Asia including Indonesia and Malaysia are coming to visit.

The KTO expects the figure to surpass 1 million for the first time this year. A growing number of tourist sites are equipped with prayer rooms to cater to Muslim tourists.

But it is difficult to build more prayer rooms for them due to objections from local residents and Christian communities.

"Setting up these mobile facilities is an alternative that can reduce protests from local residents while satisfying the needs of Muslim tourists, as they can be moved as necessary", Kim said.