Halal Tourism: An Opportunity for the Global Tourism Industry

Abstract

Halal tourism (tourism that respects the principles of Muslims) has become the focus of attention worldwide. In recent years, Halal tourism has been widely seen as one of the strongest export markets for this type of tourism. This new tourist style is meant for hotels and resorts that are keen to not offer any programs, meals, food, or activities that are contrary to Islamic law. This study focuses on constructing a framework for best practices in the Halal tourism industry through a qualitative approach by comparing six developed Halal tourism countries, three Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and three non-OIC (Malaysia, UAE, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the UK). The study contributes by proposing an index for the best practices in order to access tourism Halal market by countries that are not developed yet in this industry.