Understanding religion-based tourism terminology in the context of the hotel industry

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, Muslim travelers have been gaining presence in the world tourism market. Particular tastes and customs of Muslim consumers are increasingly taken into account by the global tourism industry, offering tailored goods and services to satisfy their demands. The purposes of the present study are to gain insight in the usage of concepts such as Islamic, veiled, dry, halal, conservative, and sharia-compliant hotels targeting Muslim consumers from a critical perspective and to point to the similarities of these businesses by considering their characteristics. In this way, the inconveniences of the use of different religion-based names are mentioned. In sum, it appears that a conceptual ambiguity is still remaining in the Islamic-based tourism market.

KEYWORDS:

• Islamic tourism
• halal tourism
• Islam-based hotels
• halal certification
• consumer behaviour