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| Al-Aqsa Mosque, Jerusalem |
Are you a Muslim traveller and willing to explore the world but worried about how to maintain your basic religious practices while roaming around? Or are you a non-Muslim traveller who has just discovered the concept of “Halal Tourism”? No matter which of the categories you fall into, this blog is going to be your tour guide for exploring the world of halal tourism and what happens here!
The world of tourism is full of versatility. Every day new trends and experiences are found here that result in never-ending thrills (Aminah and Bhakti, 2022). Halal tourism is also another addition to this dynamicity. Muslims have always been a major portion of the world population. There are around 50 Muslim countries and many of them are major tourist destinations (Desky, Thaver and Rijal, 2022). Those countries are mostly known for offering halal tourism services and experiences.
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| Fatemeh Masumah Holy Shrine, Iran |
In the global travel industry, the number of Muslim travellers is increasing day by day. However, due to certain rituals and restrictions, the tourism activities of Muslim tourists are different from others. Therefore, players in the tourism industry are focusing more on meeting the religious needs in halal tourism.
What is Halal Tourism?
Halal tourism is related to the core values of Islam and the practices that a Muslim traveller follows while travelling (Islam, 2020). It could be for business, vacation, pilgrimage or any other purposes. There are certain Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Iran, Indonesia, Turkey etc. that are completely focused on halal tourism offerings. However, the rising number of Muslim travellers has made many non-Muslim countries offer specific halal tourism services among other things (Mursid and Anoraga, 2022).
Misconception about Halal Tourism
Now you might think that whether halal tourism requires a traveller to act in a specific way or you might not enjoy it as you could have done in regular tourism. But that is not the case. In halal tourism, you can also do a lot of fun things. Halal tourism mostly consists of the things such as you cannot order pork for your meal, there will be flights without any alcohol or drink carts, and swimming pools will be separate for men and women and have to follow a certain dress code (that is not too much revealing!).
Halal Tourism Doesn’t Limit Your FUN!
You might think that halal tourism is boring with so many DO NOTs, whereas you can find all of them in the regular tourism packages. But the reality is different. Halal tourism is not way too diversified and offers all kinds of exciting tourism services. You can have a whole holiday package full of spas, exotic food, swimming pools, beaches, visiting places etc. One can also enjoy cruise experiences as well while being on halal tourism.
According to the survey of UNTWO, since 2016, the scope of halal tourism has increased by 30% and such a big number cannot be ignored (Islam, 2020). Before the beginning of halal tourism, Muslim people were less prone to travelling. In 2013, the number of Muslim travellers was 99 million which increased to 160 million in 2019 (Wahyono and Razak, 2020).
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| Kite Beach, Dubai |
Recently, some Muslim-oriented countries have even eased many of the restrictions and practices for non-Muslim travellers. Such as in UAE, it is not prohibited anymore for non-Muslim women to wear bikinis when they are at the beach or swimming pools (Syah Putra and Tucunan, 2021). However, it is a matter of respect that while visiting Muslim countries, you should respect their regular practices and follow certain rituals so that the locals do not feel uncomfortable.
But
don’t think that halal tourism is only accessible to Muslim travellers only. If
you are willing to share the beliefs and practices of the Muslim community then
you can also enjoy the many wonders that are offered by Muslim countries like
Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Kuwait, Indonesia, UAE, Qatar etc. These countries established themselves as the most amazing destinations by offering exotic, premium and numerous “Once-in-a-lifetime” experiences, which you surely won’t want to miss!
Conclusion
Halal
tourism basically represents the needs that a Muslim tourist wants when he is
travelling in places (Mursid and Anoraga, 2022).
In Muslim countries as I have mentioned earlier, these practices are by default
present there. But in other countries, hotels, restaurants, entertainers etc.
are offering a halal segment for attracting Muslim travellers. Because no tourist
would ever want to have discomfort when they are travelling!
References
Aminah, S. and Bhakti, B. A. S. (2022)
“Multiculturalism in Japan halal tourism: localizing the concept of
halal,” Journal of tourism and cultural change, pp. 1–17. doi:
10.1080/14766825.2022.2106788.
Battour, M. (2019) Halal Tourism: Achieving
Muslim tourists’ satisfaction and loyalty. Independently Published.
Desky, H., Thaver, B. and Rijal, S. (2022)
“Analysis of tourist satisfaction with halal tourism in Aceh,” Indonesian
Journal of Halal Research, 4(1), pp. 1–8. doi: 10.15575/ijhar.v4i1.14479.
Islam, M. T. (2020) “Prospects of Bangladesh as a
halal tourism destination,” Journal of Halal Product and Research,
3(2), p. 51. doi: 10.20473/jhpr.vol.3-issue.2.51-62.
Jung, I., Yu, J. and Jeaheng, Y. (2022) “Halal
product attributes/quality and its influence on Muslim guests’ loyalty for a
hotel,” Journal of quality assurance in hospitality & tourism,
pp. 1–25. doi: 10.1080/1528008x.2022.2112805.
Mursid, A. and Anoraga, P. (2022) “Halal
destination attributes and revisits intention: the role of destination
attractiveness and perceived value,” International journal of tourism
cities, 8(2), pp. 513–528. doi: 10.1108/ijtc-03-2021-0040.
Satriana, E. D. and Faridah, H. D. (2018) “Halal
tourism: Development, chance and challenge,” Journal of Halal Product
and Research, 1(2), p. 32. doi: 10.20473/jhpr.vol.1-issue.2.32-43.
Syah Putra, M. F. and Tucunan, K. P. (2021) “The
concept of halal tourism and the fulfillment of Muslim tourist needs in halal
tourism,” Halal Research Journal, 1(2), pp. 56–62. doi:
10.12962/j22759970.v1i2.52.
Wahyono, Z. and Razak, M. A. A. (2020) “Islamic tourism in Southeast Asia: The concept and its implementation,” International Journal of Halal Research, 2(2), pp. 90–105. doi: 10.18517/ijhr.2.2.90-105.2020.