Cultural Food Deserts: An Overlooked Revenue Opportunity in The Hotel Industry

This article was co-authored by Suci Wachyuni, Head of Corporate Development and Cooperation, Politeknik Sahid

I worked as a hotel manager at a large urban business hotel early in my career. Being a business hotel meant our demand pattern was mostly predictable. We were often sold out on weekdays. Weekends were quiet. The comp set on weekends was approximately 20-30% occupancy unless there was a major event (e.g., citywide). We faced the same challenges filling rooms as our comp set. Except, we rarely fell into the 20-30% range. We had a sustainable competitive advantage.

Most properties in our comp set tried to separate themselves by marketing weekend packages, amenities, or brand affiliation. We surpassed them with a unique approach to food, which brought the added benefit of GOPPAR instead of merely heads in beds. We had the largest kosher kitchen and one of the largest halal kitchens in the state of Texas. That capability allowed us to fill meeting spaces, sleeping rooms, restaurants, and banquet schedules better than competitors.

The Christmas holidays were especially slow in our area. The STR showed our comp set even in single digits. A high school friend is Muslim. He was married at my hotel during the Christmas holidays. We beat our comp set RevPAR by more than 500% that weekend. Our banquet facilities were humming, rooms were occupied, and our F&B outlets were full. Few groups are seeking to fill a business hotel over Christmas; yet my property had a weapon: food for specific religious groups. There are nearly 9 million Jewish people (Pew Research Center, 2021) and approximately 5 million Muslims in the USA today (Mohamed, 2025). We were uniquely able to meet the dietary needs of 13 million people.

I managed the hotel during many Jewish and Muslim wedding weekends. I learned about the intersection between food, faith, and hospitality. This intersection can be a sustainable competitive advantage for hoteliers. Perhaps more importantly to successful lodging management, I learned that religious observance is often most visible during life’s momentous events.

Specifically, guests may not follow every dietary rule in daily life. Yet, guest faith traditions are central at weddings, bat/bar mitzvahs, Eid celebrations, and additional religious gatherings. I remember walking guests up the stairs on the Sabbath when they could not use electronics such as elevators. This became modus operandi on weekends. Only later, after moving to other properties, did I realize how powerful our capability to meet the unique requirements of these groups were.

Our hotel had a sustainable competitive advantage, and it was not only banquet food. We were solving a regional access problem. I completed a regional asset inventory. We were the only property in the region, let alone the city, that was able to meet banquet facility requirements for up to 1,200 religious guests. This is a type of food desert.

Food Desert as a Sustainable Competitve Advantage

Food deserts can be understood as communities with limited access to foods that meet dietary needs. The USA Department of Agriculture historically framed the idea of food deserts as crossing a threshold from affluent areas into areas with low-income people residing on low access to food tracts. These tracts in the USA are primarily microcosms of urban areas and products of early 20th century redlining, meaning that food deserts have a cultural history steeped in policies enacted on race and culture. Today, urban planning professionals leverage the term food desert to push for significant resource development in historically marginalized areas. The term food desert does not need to apply to only this history, though.

The aforementioned understanding does not capture all forms of food desert. The term food desert can also be applied to the experience of cultural and religious communities. A hotel may sit in a food desert for specific groups even when it is located in a wealthy urban district near restaurants and grocery stores. For example, the term ‘available food’ for observant Jewish guests does not mean food nearby. It means kosher food that has been prepared and presented according to religious standards. This is like how Muslim guests experience food deserts.

Halal cuisine requires specific sourcing and preparation regulations as well as halal certification, which in itself necessitates prayer accommodations. It was not luck that my property once sold 90 rooms/night for one week to a Saudi royal family member. We had the capacity to serve the group halal food three times each day. No other hotels in the city could meet this group’s needs. Being able to meet the needs of a market such as this proved uniquely profitable.

Research in the field of religious diets, also known as gastronomy, emphasizes that religious diets aligned with practice are not merely menu preferences. They are religious food systems shaping purchasing, consumption, travel, and social participation (Eliasi & Dwyer, 2002). This lends itself to events, as traveling for social participation is a mainstay of weddings and numerous other events. This understanding creates a culture-specific food desert when people travel. While kosher and halal foods are the most common in the USA, anybody traveling can find themselves in a cultural food desert for ethnic or dietary cuisine. There are numerous cultural and religious specific food deserts possible.

Culture-specific food deserts are not defined only by geography or income as is typical of food deserts. Rather, such locations can be identified as whether a guest can participate in life without compromising identity. Husseini de Araújo’s (2022) work on urban halal food environments argues that access to cultural cuisine in Muslim-minority contexts depends on more than the presence or absence of halal food than anything else. The presence of halal food aligns with cultural adequacy and social meaning for Muslim travelers (Husseini de Araújo, 2022).

A similar logic can be applied to kosher hospitality. Research on kosher tourism shows that Jewish travelers’ destination decisions can be shaped by whether hotels can meet kosher requirements (Moira, Mylonopoulos, & Vasilopoulou, 2015). If a lodging professional’s job is to maximize revenue while satisfying guests then conducting a local audit of available cultural cuisine in their property’s area and potentially meeting guest needs at the hotel itself is likely wise. Lessons can also be applied from these studies to religious cuisine from large populations in the USA such as Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Orthodox, or Seventh Day Adventist.

There is a strategic lesson available to hotel professionals: access to cultural cuisine is a demand generator. Furthermore, gastronomy can be a form of differentiation, especially in crowded marketplaces. Finally, celebrations aligned with the most common types of cultural cuisine can be leveraged into profit. Properties building kosher or halal infrastructure are not merely adding items to their product. Rather, the venue is becoming a cultural center, potentially for millions of people. And this is not limited to kosher or halal.

Building Trust With Cultural Competency

Offering cuisine that meets the dietary needs of target markets seems obvious. Some of these large ethnic groups require particularly stringent trust-building exercises before they have buy-in. Kosher and halal service in particular require trust. Menu items denoted as ‘kosher-inspired’ or ‘halal-style’ are not the same thing meeting strict religious requirements. Property operations and the supply chain need to adhere to specific details.

Kosher and halal are particularly important market segments for most locations in the USA. There are numerous other ethnic cuisines that a property could choose to specialize in. These cuisines have fairly strict requirements. In particular, Ethiopian Orthodox, Hindu, Jain, and Seventh-Day Adventist religions stand out as potentially large markets that a hotel could seek to reach.

Kwon and Tamang (2015) identified cultural and religious dietary operation considerations for hospitality establishments seeking to reach these markets. They identified specific operational details that a property should consider: sourcing, receiving, storage, equipment separation, dishware, labeling, supervision, staff training, and communication (Kwon & Tamang, 2015). Table 1 outlines the gastronomical requirements of these religious groups:

There is divergent adherence to cultural diets within these religious groups. For example, Pew Research Center (2021) data show that merely 17% of U.S. Jews say they keep kosher at home, yet observance varies along a wide continuum by denomination, with one end of the spectrum showing that 95% of Orthodox Jews report keeping kosher at home. This extreme level of variation may seem to matter a great deal for hotels. I said this to a Jewish friend while writing this article. He mentioned that Jewish people, specifically his father in this case, can take on a vegetarian or pescetarian diet. My experience is that Muslims are similar in practice.

First, halal expectations vary by guest, culture, event type, and level of observance just like in Judaism. Secondly, Islam has something called the law of necessity. This means they can eat haram foods to avoid hardship such as a lack of food when traveling. The result is similar with either group; they likely found ways around eating halal or kosher at all times due to necessity but they would still prefer to eat their cultural cuisine when traveling.

Understanding diet requirements in the late 2020s is only a small piece of meeting the needs of these guests. It should be noted that early adopters may take advantage of a growing opportunity. Pew Research (2025) projects the global Muslim population will reach about 2.8 billion by 2050. This places Islam on parity with Christianity. Muslim-friendly travel is a recognized segment of global tourism.

For example, the Mastercard-Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index (2026) tracks destinations based on Muslim-friendly services and halal tourism readiness, showing that destinations are increasingly competing on their ability to serve Muslim travelers. These reports consistently outline that personalization through culture-specific food access is a deeply meaningful form of personalization because it addresses identity (e.g., societal, cultural), sense of place, tourist gaze, religion, and a general sense of belonging.

A Cultural Food Access Audit

Programming to meet the needs of a cultural cuisine hoteliers are not in-group with can seem daunting. Hopefully the introduction of a simple food audit can assist hotel professionals interested, however cursorily, with understanding how easy it can be to approach this topic. To begin with, the first question should not be, “Can we add a kosher dish?” or “What small changes can we make to host a halal event?” The question should be, “Which communities in our region have limited access to trusted event food and hospitality infrastructure?” The best initial questions lead to data stemming from market research and consumer behavior understandings, as data-based decisions are normally the best decisions. These are questions that should be asked and answered, in order, as a first step:

1. What religious or cultural populations are meaningfully and significantly large within radius of our property?

2. Which wedding and/or event markets are potentially under-served.

The second step is to reach out to community leaders for the communities identified during the community assessment. If there is a lack of kosher, halal, or other options in the community then a rabbi or imam would likely be ecstatic to learn from a hotel leader, a fellow community member, that there is an investigation of how to better work with this community. Specific questions could include, “what events leave the region because no venue can meet the food requirements?,” “Which dates are hard to fill?,” and “Do community demand aligns with those periods hard to fill dates?”

The third step is to determine a best case scenario operating model. This could include the building of a certified kitchen to serve 1,000+ guests like my hotel. But that is doubtful to be the next step. This could be as simple as opening lines of communication with approved caterers who already serve the community. A hotel may simply need to create a separate preparation area or use supervised pop-up kitchen protocols for specific events. The right model depends on numerous factors that cannot be overlooked: community demand from this niche market, financing available, a feasibility study, brand standards, union rules, kitchen layout, etc.

Overwhelmingly, the decision should be based on stakeholder community expectations and the hotel’s leadership. The essential point for stakeholders in the community will likely be authenticity while the hotel will base decisions on a cost-benefit analysis focused around profit.

The fourth step is training employees. Team members do not need to moonlight as religious scholars in the community. Employees working during cultural events should be empathetic employees who practice cross-cultural communication already. Some team members will need more training than others, depending on the position. Obviously, food and beverage professionals will likely need more training than other team members given this topic.

For example, a banquet captain should understand why meat and dairy separation matters in kosher service; then, they should likely manage this operation. A restaurant server should be prepared to answer questions during a weekend wedding celebration with Muslim guests about why halal guests may ask about gelatin, meats contacting each other in the kitchen, or the sourcing of meats.

Meanwhile, a front desk agent merely needs to understand that elevator use may be sensitive during the Sabbath. Sales managers need to put a lot of the operations into motion and are likely most integral to the success of an operation such as this. For example, sales managers should even know when to involve a religious leader (e.g., rabbi, imam) or certification authority. Mistakes in this space are far more than service failures; such instances of failure can be an identity violation.

There are numerous additional things that need to take place before a hotel can be reliably culturally competent. Following the aforementioned steps will ensure there is a market and a willingness from the community to work with a hotel. If this is achieved, then the local leaders are likely to lead the way. With this written, this is a basic list of things that will need to take place:

• Sourcing audit

• Receiving / Purchasing audit

• Storage audit

• Equipment storage audit

• Dishware and service audit

• Labeling

• Best practices in stakeholder communication outline followed

• Profit & Loss assessment annually

• Comp set and market share analysis

Also of note, hotels should avoid treating these markets as “niche” in a dismissive way. Niche markets can be small in some ways while being highly profitable in other metered ways. A niche can also be large within a region but invisible to competitors who do not understand it. For example, my hotel in Texas did not need every traveler to require kosher or halal food. We needed to be the trusted property for the groups that did. That trust created repeat business and word-of-mouth marketing that no advertisement could replicate.

Conclusion

The broader theoretical frame of this article is that food access is part of inclusive hospitality. Specifically, think of the following juxtaposition. Traditional food desert research correctly highlights inequities in foodstuff access yet cultural adequacy adds another dimension as it is extremely important but places food outside the realm of sustenance. The gist is that this expands the idea of accessibility for hoteliers. Meaning, accessibility is more than a ramp or elevator as a component of ADA compliance. It can also include whether guests feel a sense of belonging.

The strongest opportunities may exist in the gap between demographic reality and the readiness of hotel leaders. Many cities have growing multicultural populations while only a small number of hotels are prepared to host their most meaningful gatherings. This is especially true of the country’s burgeoning Muslim population. The property that solves the problem of religious change in the greater landscape can likely create both social value through goodwill as well as aligning commercial value. This is where diligence to strategy becomes strategy.

The hotel industry often searches for competitive advantage through flag creation or loyalty programs. Those tools matter within CRM strategies. Yet sometimes the most defensible advantage is built in the trust of a community. My Texas hotel featured a similar experience to the other comp set properties on the STR my bonus was partially dependent on: a ballroom, guest rooms, food and beverage facilities, and meeting space. What set us apart was that Jewish and Muslim families believed they could bring their most important life events to us and be respected. That belief filled rooms when others were empty. It generated millions of dollars in revenue. That revenue will grow in alignment with demographic changes taking place in the country and globalization in general.

Are you willing to leave these millions of dollars on the table?

References

• Husseini de Araújo, S. (2022). Urban food environments and cultural adequacy: Understanding halal food access in Muslim-minority contexts. Food, Culture & Society, 25(4), 725-743.

• Kwon, D. Y., & Tamang, J. P. (2015). Religious ethnic foods. Journal of Ethnic Foods, 2(2), 45-46.

• Mastercard-Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index. (2026). Halal Muslim Travel Market Reports.

• Mohamed, B. (2025, June 18). How U.S. Muslims compare with other Americans religiously and demographically . Pew Research Center.

• Moira, P., Mylonopoulos, D., & Vasilopoulou, G. (2015). Food Consumption during vacation: The case of kosher tourism. International Journal of Cultural Tourism and Hospitality Research, 1(1), 9-22.

• Pew Research Center. (2021, May 11). Jewish Americans in 2020 . Pew Research Center.

Reprinted from the Hotel Business Review with permission from www.HotelExecutive.com.