Halal certification or ingredient disclosure: A comparative analysis of serving food in Japanese tourist destinations

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to clarify what is really needed to attract Muslim tourists by comparing the two main approaches to serving food with halal certification or with ingredient disclosure.

Design/methodology/approach

This research adopted a comparative analysis of a Group promoting “halal certification” and a Group promoting “ingredient disclosure” mainly from the tourists’ perspective. Taito Ward, Tokyo, encourages restaurants to obtain halal certification, while the approach of Takayama City is to disclose the ingredients. The study compares the advantages and disadvantages of these two approaches and also investigates factors influencing them.

Findings

This study revealed that Muslim tourists would like to see both halal certification and ingredient disclosure. The reason why Taito Ward and Takayama City pursue different strategies can be summarized in three points: the types of food offered in the two areas, the vastly different scales of the two areas as tourist destinations and the different perspectives of their respective advisors.

Research limitations/implications

The limitations of this study include the small sample size and the low diversity of the origins of Muslim tourists. However, this research is still significant because few academic studies on halal certification have been done from the tourists’ perspective.

Originality/value

There are many things that could be done to attract Muslim tourists. Even without halal certification, there are many restaurants that can cater to Muslims in Japan. A little consideration and thoughtfulness on the part of restaurants can enhance the probability of attracting Muslim tourists.

Citation

Takeshita, S. (2020), "Halal certification or ingredient disclosure: A comparative analysis of serving food in Japanese tourist destinations", Journal of Islamic Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 765-781. https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-07-2018-0129