Halal tourism: state of the art

Abstract

Purpose

Halal tourism is a growing segment that represents a potentially attractive niche. However, although increasing, it is still a young and residual area of academic research. This paper aims to explore its concept, boundaries and various streams to offer a clarifying vision for researchers and tourism managers.

Design/methodology/approach

A systematization of the state of the art was carried out based on the papers contained in Web of Science and Scopus databases. Moreover, papers not indexed in these repositories (conference papers, book chapters, etc.) were searched through scientific social networks mainly.

Findings

In spite of recent efforts, halal tourism is a field of study still in a very early stage; however, on a practical level, the number of halal products and services is starting to increase worldwide. Nevertheless, there are challenges for the tourist industry in moving towards the authentication of the halal tourism offer, including among them the role of new technologies and the digital economy.

Originality/value

This paper offers a comprehensive analysis of halal tourism research. It highlights its main areas, gaps and questions for debate. In this line, a research agenda is proposed.

Citation

Vargas-Sánchez, A. and Moral-Moral, M. (2019), "Halal tourism: state of the art", Tourism Review, Vol. 74 No. 3, pp. 385-399. https://doi.org/10.1108/TR-01-2018-0015