Muslim travellers' needs : what don't we know?

Abstract

Halal tourism, a term widely used as a synonym for Muslim travel, refers to products, leisure, recreation and social purposes that comply with Islamic teaching. This study considers the needs of this increasingly large travel market. Existing studies repeatedly emphasise the needs for Halal food, Halal restaurants, religious practices, and Halal compliant accommodation, tours, and destinations. By contrasting existing studies with the key cultural facets of interaction and communication derived from the Coordinated Management of Meaning (CMM) theory, the researchers found the need to better identify Muslim travellers' needs from the Culture norms, Verbal and non-verbal communication, Life Scripting, and Relationships domains. Proposed studies include understanding the role of travel for individual well-being in Islamic life, identifying the specifics of verbal and non-verbal interaction with Muslim tourists, investigating the management of the segregation of the sexes in public recreational areas, and supporting Islamic religious and cultural events.