Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
needs perspective
M.S. Nor-Zafir
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia
ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to develop the characteristics of Shariah-compliance hotel
(hereafter SCH) from the perspective of Muslim needs. SCH is a newly innovative services introduced by
hotels to satisfy the Muslim travelers. Nonetheless, lack of study found in the current literature on SCH
characteristics that has been developed base on Muslim needs and the implementation of SCH. This study
focuses on developing a model of SCH and issues or challenges in implementing it. This is a preliminary
study and uses in-depth, open-ended interviews through snowball sampling. Interviews were conducted
with six experts in the hospitality industry and data were recorded, transcribed and categorized in order
understand the issues of implementing SCH. The difficulties to obtain Halal certificate and the absence
of SCH standard affected the practice of SCH in Malaysia. Along with this, two Malaysian Standards
(MS1900:2005 & MS1500:2004) have been identified as a tool to implement SCH.
Keywords
:
Halal, Islamic hotel, Muslim needs, Shariah compliant hotel, qualitative
1 INTRODUCTION
represent hotels industry in Malaysia. The first sec-
tion will describe the Muslim tourists' needs, SCH
development, SCH concept and its characteristics.
The Halal revolution has created a high aware-
ness and demand among Muslims to consume
Halal products or Islamic services for example the
Shariah-compliance hotel (hereafter SCH). SCH is
a new innovative and creative services offered by
hotels around the world (Nor Zafir, Abu Bakar &
Hashim, 2014). Recently, the existence of Islamic
hospitality or Shariah hotel is mushrooming
beyond the Gulf countries until Asian countries
(Tarrant, 2010). This development can be traced
not limited to Malaysia and Indonesia only which
the Muslims are their majority population, but also
to the countries that the Muslims are the minority
residents, such as Thailand, Philippine and China
(Anonymous, 2011; Lee, 2010).
However, there is a lack of comprehensive stud-
ies found regarding to Halal or Shariah compli-
ance practices in Malaysian hospitality industry
(Zailani, Omar & Kopong, 2011). As such, this
study will contributes significantly on the literature
of Shariah-compliance hotel concept in Malaysia.
The purposes of this paper are to develop the SCH
characteristics based on the daily Muslim require-
ments and to provide better understanding of SCH
concept by exploring the issues and challenges
in implementing it. This study adopted snowball
sampling technique and in-depth interviews with
six experts of hotel industry including govern-
ment officials, hoteliers and hotel associations that
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
Determining the needs of Muslim travelers
The needs of Muslim during travelling could be
developed based on the Pillars of Islam and the
Article of Iman. This is because a Muslim must
perform and belief on the Pillars of Islam and the
Article of Iman otherwise it is a sin. As Islam is
a way of life, a Muslim is required to perform the
religious duties everywhere (Begg, 1997). For exam-
ple, a Muslim traveler needs to perform his or her
religious routine such as prayer (Salaah) five times a
day and consume Halal food during travelling.
On the supply side perspective, hotels could
provide Islamic services that comfort the Mus-
lim travelers to carry out their religious duties.
For example, a hotel could put up the sign on the
direction of Mecca in its rooms, offer prayer mat
upon checking-in, provide Halal foods and infor-
mation about the prayer time (Hashim, Murphy &
Mohammad, 2006). In the view of some experts,
the analysis of religious needs is vital for hotels
to provide hotel services and create a winning
marketing strategy (Muhamad & Mizerski, 2010;
Weidenfeld, 2006). Thus, it is worthwhile for hotel
managers to understand how Muslims should
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