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In the past few years, Non-OIC countries in East Asia and Southeast Asia, has continuously been trying to accommodate Muslim tourists. Countries such as the ASEAN countries and the East Asian countries have put in effort to make sure that their destination is as Muslim friendly as possible.
The ASEAN countries, namely the ten Southeast Asian states – Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam , are rich with natural resources and historical heritage. The high number of Muslim populations in ASEAN countries can be a potential revenue to promote Islamic tourism. This study aimed to examine the potential industry of Islamic tourism as an alternative revenue, and it seeks to investigate the effective and efficient way in promoting Islamic tourism in ASEAN.
There are many factors that promote Islamic tourism in ASEAN countries. Push and pull factors influence Muslim tourists is deciding which place they want to visit. Collaboration and coordination among ASEAN countries can enhance Islamic tourism in developing Islamic tourism which can provide economic benefit to enhance the countries’ revenue.
Some of the work being put into promoting the destinations as halal friendly include, Malaysia’s Halal Development Corporation (HDC) entering into an agreement with Japan to provide halal goods for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. This event was rescheduled and took place in 2021. Taiwan went a step ahead and built new Muslim prayer rooms in public spaces. They also had Taiwan Adventist Hospital in Taipei become the country’s first hospital to be certified halal, as part of the country’s efforts to boost medical tourism. There has also been an increase in training offered to hotels and halal restaurants.
Moreover, in Thailand, in 2019, the Ministry of Tourism hired a team from Chulalongkorn University to develop tourism products and services that catered to the needs of Muslim travelers as a result of in-depth research. The ministry also introduced new travel routes for Muslims while the university provided training courses on halal tourism for industry and government stakeholders.
On the other side, South Korea hosted their fourth edition of Halal Restaurant Week, which aims to attract Muslim visitors to the country. There being a total of 152 Muslim friendly restaurants and 40 major tourism sites and providing an experience plus special discounts to all participants.
South East Asia and Middle East regions continue to dominate in the ranking of Muslim-friendly destinations, according to the latest research and rankings.
