Halal tourism: literature review and experts’ view

Abstract

Purpose The first problem when diving into this topic is the confusion caused by a number of terms intended to designate the same concept, in addition to the lack of a shared interpretation on what Islam requires from tourism services to secure their acceptability. This paper aims to contribute to the clarification of what halal tourism is, as it seems to be the most appropriate term to refer to practices allowed when travelling, in accordance with the Islamic law. Design/methodology/approach A synthesis of the current situation was carried out, based on the papers contained in Web of Science and Scopus databases. Moreover, a consultation of tourism experts was implemented to extract a number of practical implications for the promotion and development of this segment. Findings As the literature review suggested, halal tourism is a field of study that is still in a very early stage. In spite of this fact and the ambiguity found, halal tourism can be understood as the offer of tourist services designed to meet the needs of Muslim tourists in accordance with their religious obligations. Practical implications It is imperative to offer halal services (food, worship facilities, etc.) to attract this type of tourists. However, the diversity of interpretations has prevented the existence of one single certification. The lack of knowledge on this market is the main obstacle to overcome. Originality/value This paper contributes to clarifying the conceptualization of halal tourism. It takes a theoretical review and experts’ view as a preliminary step to study this topic in more depth.

Halal Tourism: Between Economic Opportunities and Social Acceptance

“…Whereas in Arabic, halal is used in the Koran and has the same meaning as said [17], those are things or actions that are permitted by Islamic law, in this case, sharia law [18]. Therefore Halal Tourism is everything that is covered in tourism and is ensured to be in harmony with Tourism as a tour that is carried out for recreational and social purposes and is based on spiritual motivation or not, but Muslims who travel continue to try to adjust their activities to remain in accordance with religious corridors [22].…”

Halal Tourism: The Practices of Halal Hotels in Alanya, Turkey

“…In other words, the concept of halal cannot be limited to food and beverage (Carboni et al, 2014). In the literature, the general attributes that halal hotels should embody are as follows: no alcohol and nightclub, halal food, no pork and additive derivatives, conservative TV channels, masjid, Muslim staff, dressing of personnel in compliance with Islamic principles, staff to serve only guests of their gender, the presence of Quran, prayer rugs and qibla indication in rooms, separate gym and swimming pool for men and women, the order of beds and toilets in opposite direction to the Qibla, bidet nozzles at toilets, customers' clothings in compliance with Islamic principles, separate floors for men, women Boğan, E. JOTAGS, 2020, 8(1) 34 and families (Vargas-Sánchez & Moral-Moral, 2019b;Stephenson, 2014;Battour et al, 2011;Henderson, 2010).…”

“…However, the most widely accepted attributes are halal food, prayer facilities, no alcohol and pork and additive derivatives and gender segregation (Battour et al, 2011). As suggested by El-Gohary (2016), Vargas-Sánchez and Moral-Moral (2019b) propose that the hotels which do not have all attributes and meet all qualifications mentioned above and serve both Muslims and non-Muslims would be called as Muslim-friendly hotel rather than Islamic hotel or halal hotel. However, one of the biggest challenges in these hotels is the difficulty in satisfying the different demands of Muslim and non-Muslim tourists from different cultures in the same place (Carboni et al, 2014).…”

Islamic Organizational Culture and Spiritual Leadership in Supporting Sharia Hotel Performance

“…Halal must include all components, such as halal / sharia hotels, halal restaurants and halal travel. [19]…”