A proposal on standardization of halal tourism for accommodation businesses

Religion is mentioned in various types of tourism-related studies, and religion is addressed as one of the factors that encourage people to travel. Religious beliefs provide a source of purpose and meaning for the lives of people, and affect the lifestyle of people as a cultural factor. Islamic rules and beliefs are important in terms of hotel selection of devout tourists taking part in tourism movements, too. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the relationship between Islam and Halal Tourism, to set the conception framework of Halal Tourism and to reveal a universally valid Halal Tourism Standardization which can be adopted in hospitality industry. In this respect, the importance "Islam" religion places on tourism has been analyzed and it was seen that "Islam" religion encourages tourism. Additionally, the place and importance of Halal Tourism both in Turkey and the world, emerging as a touristic practice, has been analyzed and as a result, the potential contribution of Halal Tourism market is tried to be brought to light. This thesis tried to access all the standards implemented worldwide in accommodation businesses which involve Halal Tourism Standardization. In the light of this information, a model is proposed for the accommodation businesses operating with the Halal concept. First, a pilot application was performed with the model designed. The model was then revised in accordance with the statistical data obtained and the original study was performed with a total number of 500 participants. Following the analyses, a final version of the model was defined and opened to the use of beneficiaries. This study was designed as a mixed method study using both qualitative and quantitative methods. Tourist participation was ensured using the questionnaire technique, one of the quantitative methods. Observation and document analysis techniques were used qualitatively. The data analysis was performed at 95% reliability. Most of the participants had a high-income level (153), with extensive professional experience (137), at least going on a vacation annually (281), highly educated (219) and married (300). According to the results of the analysis, the Islamic lifestyle is reported by the participants as one of the most common reasons behind the participants' selection to stay at hotels designed with Halal concept. Among the other reasons, the availability of halal food, more peaceful and reliable holiday offering and keeping the children's within Islamic lifestyle were the other reported reasons. It was further revealed that the provisions of Halal Tourism were more important for the people under the age of 25, for freelancers, for the ones whose income is between TL 1001 and 2000, and between TL 3001 and 4000 and for the ones who go on a vacation annually when compared to those from other age groups, civil servants, the ones whose income is 5001 TL and more, and the ones who go on a vacation once every three months and once every six months. The study found that the attitudes towards Halal Tourism changes depending on the gender and it has been determined that women had more positive attitude when compared to men. Considering these findings, suggestions were made for further research and for the actors operating in the public and private Halal Tourism sector.