Halal Tourism: A Debate Between its religious values and business interest; A Case of Malaysia

Abstract

Tourism industry plays a critical role in propelling a country’s economy. It is undeniable that most countries targeted to accelerate their revenue through the tourism industry and hotel sector. It is undeniable that halal tourism has become among the top agendas in worldwide tourism due to the growing number of Muslim travellers. This situation resulted in significant foreign earnings. As a Muslim-majority country in the world, Malaysia is striving very hard to be the best in this industry. In this vein, this paper is dedicated to study the real intention behind the acceptance of this market by the industry players and the public authorities who are responsible for the establishment and implementation of the policies and standards of this industry. Two main concerns are the surrender of religious obligation or business profit-making strategy. A qualitative study by way of interviewing public authorities’ officials and hoteliers was employed to have a clear reaction in answering this doubt. A doctrinal analysis was also employed as a main research methodology by referring to reliable authoritative sources such as government policies and standards to strengthen the analysis done. The findings showed that Malaysia enjoys a great Halal tourism potential. Unfortunately, it is still far-reaching agenda, and much more to be exploited. Analysis of the data also seems to suggest a contradictory intention between the public authorities and the industry players. The former inclines towards promoting Islam as a way of life as to uphold the slogan of Malaysia as leader in Halal hub whereas for the latter, their utmost concern is equally divided between religious obligation and business interest. Hence, this paper opens new research avenues by making significant contributions in giving clear ideas to the more practicable framework, policies, and standards given consideration of balancing the industry players’ religious obligation and business interest.