To read this content please select one of the options below:

Halal tourism: literature review and experts’ view

Alfonso Vargas-Sánchez (Department of Business Management and Marketing, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain)
María Moral-Moral (Department of Marketing and Communication, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Cadiz, Cadiz, Spain)

Journal of Islamic Marketing

ISSN: 1759-0833

Article publication date: 17 May 2019

Issue publication date: 20 May 2020

2011

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.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the International Institute for Research and Development of Special Interest Tourism, SITI1 (Iran), with which Dr Vargas-Sánchez collaborate as its R&D Director.

Citation

Vargas-Sánchez, A. and Moral-Moral, M. (2020), "Halal tourism: literature review and experts’ view", Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 549-569. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-04-2017-0039

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

Related articles