Halal strategies on official government tourism websites: An extension and validation study

• Published in: Tourism and hospitality research Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 229 - 244
• Main Authors: Adel, Ahmed M, Dai, Xin, Yan, Chenfeng, Roshdy, Rana S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.04.2021; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Content analysis; Destinations; Information seeking behavior; Islam; Market strategy; Marketing; Muslims; Tourism; Validation studies; Validity; Websites; government tourism websites; Halal tourism; muslim travelers; content analysis; halal food; information seeking models
• ISSN: 1467-3584; 1742-9692
• DOI: 10.1177/1467358420986236

The current research extends the current literature of halal tourism by applying information seeking models to analyze the halal culinary marketing strategies. It aims at identifying the halal marketing strategies from the official tourism providers' perspective (the supply side) by extending and validating the halal culinary framework of Yousaf and Xiucheng. A content analysis of the government websites of the top Muslim inbound destinations among non-Islamic nations (as a vital source of information) is employed. The results of the content analysis revealed that several non-Islamic destinations did not pay attention in their official tourism offerings to promote the interests of the unique requirements of Muslims. It is found that only three destinations; New Zealand, Singapore, and Australia promote halal strategies on their government websites. Nevertheless, they could not promote all aspects of halal tourism requirements on their official websites.