Purpose This study aims to align the theoretical foundations of Halal tourism to conventional tourism paradigms. It investigates Muslim tourists’ perception of value in the context of tourist destinations in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach The partial least square structural equation modelling uses SMART–PLS for 170 Muslim tourists and uses a positive research approach with a quantitative basis of enquiry. Six variables of Muslim tourist perceived value, such as price, social, emotion and quality, and Halal physical and nonphysical attributes are examined. In addition, this study also examines the mediating effect of destination experience in Malaysia’s environment (i.e. infrastructure, atmosphere and culture) and the relationship between Muslim tourist perceived value and tourist satisfaction. Findings Overall, the results indicate that price and social variables had no impact on tourist satisfaction, whereas other variables such as quality, emotion and Halal physical and nonphysical attributes had a direct impact on tourist satisfaction especially with the mediating effect of destination experience. Practical implications The effects of cognitive, affective and Islamic (i.e. Halal) values on tourist satisfaction were examined as also the importance of destination experience on tourist satisfaction. Originality/value This study also found that destination experience influenced tourist satisfaction significantly.