All photographs by Bradley Secker for POLITICO
ISTANBUL — The Muslim-friendly tourism industry is the fastest growing global travel sector. For observant Muslims looking for a package holiday in the sun, the halal holiday market fits their religious requirements of piety. Halal-friendly hotels and resorts are increasingly prevalent in Turkey, with half of the world’s supply located here.
These resorts boast many familiar amenities for a trip to the beach, with a few twists: They don’t allow alcohol on site, serve only halal meals, have gender segregated swimming pools, spas, gyms and beach areas, and require a modest dress code for women in common areas. Halal-friendly resorts also offer on-site prayer and mosque facilities and have erected large screens and walls to ensure the female-only areas can’t be seen by anyone in the hotel, or even by those at sea, guaranteeing complete privacy for guests.
Women at the Wome Deluxe hotel in southern Turkey must place cameras and mobile phones into lockers before entering the pool grounds.
Posters of women wearing burkinis at the Club Hotel Karaburun.
Water slides dot the men-only pool area at the Adin Beach Hotel.
Drinks are on offer for arriving guests at the Wome Deluxe Hotel, but no alcohol is served on the premises.
Protective screens conceal the women-only area at the Wome Deluxe.
Boys play table tennis at the Adenya Hotel and Resort.
An arrow on the ceiling of a hotel room in the Bera Alanya points toward Mecca, the direction to which Muslims pray.
A range of burkinis on sale in a shop at the Selge Beach resort.
Families use the mixed-gender beach at the Adin Beach Hotel in southern Turkey. The triangular screens conceal the women-only beach.
Tayyibah, from East London, carries her son at the Wome Deluxe Hotel.
A Quran and a remote control between beds at the Modern Saraylar Hotel.
A wall separates pool areas at the Selge Beach Hotel, which was converted into a halal-friendly hotel. The swimming pool has been divided into two by this wall, leaving one section for men and another for women.