Reflective Journal

5.3 Discuss tourism and hospitality from Islamic perspective

            Halal tourism is a subcategory of tourism which is geared towards Muslim families who abide by the rules of Islam. The hotels in such destinations do not serve alcohol and have separate swimming pools and spa facilities for men and women. Malaysia, Turkey and many more countries are trying to attract Muslim tourists from all over the world offering facilities in accordance with the religious beliefs of Muslim tourists.

The halal tourism industry also provides flights where no alcohol or pork products are served, prayer timings are announced and religious programs are broadcast as part of the entertainment offered onboard. Many international hotels do serve halal food that is slaughtered in accordance with the teachings of Islamic sharia and is free of any substances forbidden by Islam such as pork and alcohol. Some hotels have employed people from the Muslim world to provide translation services and other assistance that may be needed by tourists from Muslim countries.

            When Muslims travel to another destination to leisure for less than one year, this travel is considered as tourism. The question that is often asked is whether the activity is to be referred to as halal tourism or Islamic tourism. In our opinion, the activity can be referred to as halal tourism if all the activities, facilities, actions and objectives are permissible according to Islamic teaching. The same thing applies in the case of non-Muslim tourists. So a non-Muslim tourist can claim that he/she consumes Halal food and attends Halal entertainment outlets as long as the activities related to his claim are genuinely permissible in Islam. However, to describe the traveling activities as being ‘Islamic tourism’ requires another very crucial element, that is whether the activity is an intention on the part of the traveler.

            Availability of Halal food and beverages is vital for destinations that target Muslim travelers. It is now common for Muslim tourists to request Halal food and beverages when they visit non-Muslim destinations. According to Islamic law, it is not allowed for Muslim followers to eat pork or pork by-products, animals that were dead prior to slaughtering, animals not slaughtered properly or not slaughtered with pronouncing the name of God, blood and blood by-products, alcohol, carnivorous animals and birds of prey.

A new travel package in the tourism industry which provided full holiday services in accordance with Islamic beliefs and practices are called the ‘Halal holiday’. These include Halal resorts and hotels that serve only Halal foods and non-alcoholic drinks. Another service offered may include separate pools, spa and leisure facilities for men and women an open beach which separates males from females, private female-only beach, family-oriented facilities such as mixed beach areas for families with Islamic swimming dress code and Muslim prayer facilities and some may even offer Islamic heritage tours for tourists to explore and discover the history and culture of the Islamic civilization. Some of the tour providers may stress that their activities are geared towards maintaining the values and modesty of Muslims who desire to follow the right encouragement to travel throughout the Earth to see God’s signs and patterns all over the world.

Islamic tourism now that the industry has started to bloom in recent years. Especially that Islamic tourism is much related to the halal concept and Malaysia is now going towards becoming a global halal-hub.