Perceived Inconveniences and Muslim Travelers’ Loyalty to Non-Muslim Destinations

Abstract

Muslim travelers’ growth is an emerging sector of the global tourism industry. Yet, little has been discovered about their behaviors and perceived inconveniences in a non-Muslim destination. The present research was an attempt to identify international Muslim travelers’ loyalty generation process for the non-Muslim destination by considering the effect of inconveniences that they possibly perceive while traveling to the non-Muslim destination. An empirical approach comprising a field survey method was used to collect the Muslim travelers’ views in a non-Muslim destination (Korea). Our result revealed that halal-friendly image, emotional experiences, and desire played a significant role in building Muslim travelers’ loyalty. In addition, a moderator test result of Muslim travelers’ perceived inconveniences at the non-Muslim destination significantly weakened the effect of desire and halal-friendly image on loyalty. The comparative importance of emotional experiences at a destination was identified. Our findings help non-Muslim destination marketers to develop effective attraction and retention strategies for international Muslim travelers.

The Post-Coronavirus World in the International Tourism Industry: Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior to Safer Destination Choices in the Case of US Outbound Tourism

“…His empirical findings revealed that tourists’ international travel decision formations are under the considerable impact of their perceived levels of risk. The important moderating nature of risk perception has been also asserted by Han et al [ 41 ]. Their recent research demonstrated the effect of travelers’ psychological risks related to inconveniences at international tourism destinations on the relationships among the cognitive factors, the affective factors, and the motivational factors and the behavioral intentions.…”

“…For the past few decades, the concept of the perceived risk has long been the critical subject of diverse research [ 28 , 31 , 39 ]. Particularly, the perceived risk in the tourism literature is quite extensive [ 26 , 28 , 31 , 40 , 41 ]. The psychological risk is the key facet of the perceived risk, whose nature is multidimensional [ 20 , 39 , 42 ].…”

Muslim Travelers’ Inconvenient Tourism Experience and Self-Rated Mental Health at a Non-Islamic Country: Exploring Gender and Age Differences

“…The inconvenience of the tourism experience that international Muslim tourists perceive can be far more serious than that of other traveler types [ 6 ]. Specifically, at non-Islamic destinations where the Muslim-friendly tourism environment and infrastructure are not sufficiently built, such inconvenience is maximized [ 10 ]. Undeniably, the tourism environment and attributes of many non-Islamic destinations are not well equipped for the international Muslim travelers [ 3 , 11 ].…”

“…Nonetheless, Muslim travelers’ inconvenient tourism experiences at a non-Islamic country are quite common [ 1 ] due to the lack of understanding of Muslim culture, Islamic hospitality notions, and the principals of Islam [ 10 ]. Olya and Al-Ansi [ 11 ] asserted that service guidelines, facilities (e.g., prayer room), halal foods, and halal-friendly products are limited/barely available for Muslim visitors in the hotels, restaurants, and tourist sites of many non-Islamic destinations.…”

“…Undoubtedly, the global tourism market sees Muslim tourism as a lucrative sector [ 3 , 10 ]. To take full advantage of Muslim tourism in a non-Islamic country, a clear understanding of the needs and behavior of Muslim travelers is required.…”