Abstract:
Halal tourism becomes the most dynamic and fast-growing niche in the tourism industry. However, the lack of
consensus on the definition, concepts and implementations of halal tourism has pollarded its development.
Academics in scientific researches, destination marketers and practitioners in the industry widely employ the
phrases “halal tourism” and “Islamic tourism” interchangeably to denote tourism products and services
addressing halal conscious travelers’ needs. These ambiguities pose challenges and practical problems in the
academic literature and in the industry. The main purpose of this study is, therefore, to appraise the conceptual
and practical usage of the phrases halal tourism and Islamic tourism in academia and in industry, and
recommend the appropriate position of these terminologies. This paper also seeks to propose cogent
definitions of halal tourism and Islamic tourism. The study begins by analyzing the distinctions between halal
tourism and Islamic tourism. In the course of the study, firstly, the definitions and concepts of tourism, Islamic
tourism, and halal tourism were well examined. The difference between Islamic tourism and halal tourism is
emphasized at second. The existing literature was consulted. On top of that, the opinions of tourism experts
were gathered through Delphi Technique. The data were extracted from a theoretical review and experts’ view within
the realm of qualitative research methods. A critical literature review was conducted based on the journal article found
in Elsevier, Web of Science and Scopus databases. Moreover, to probe propose definitions for halal tourism and Islamic
tourism, tourism experts were also consulted. The finding of this study reveals that there are ambiguities and
misunderstandings over these two terminologies among both the academics and practitioners. Despite the
fact that they have commonalities especially in using halal products and services, Islamic tourism and halal
tourism have unequivocal differences. Their difference lies in the objective and intention of the visitations.
Besides the conceptual complications, challenges practically facing the industry are also assessed in the
study
