Halal Tourism through the Lens of Generation Z in a Muslim Majority Country: Implications on Tourist Services

Abstract

The aim of this paper is twofold: to contribute to clarifying what exactly Halal tourism is, being a relatively new term; and to provide an insight into the level of knowledge and mental schemes of a new generation (Gen Z) in a Muslim majority country. To achieve the first aim, a literature review is presented. With regard to the second, a survey among Business School university students was carried out in Indonesia; primary data collected were treated by using univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistical techniques. The main findings obtained show that (1) scientific research on Halal tourism is still in an early stage, with the first relevant article dated in 2010; and (2) only a minority of our target population has declared to be familiar with the concept of Halal tourism and to have received specific training on it, but most of them (males particularly) believe that Indonesia should bet decisively to position itself as a Halal tourism destination, being its religious profile the most influential factor in favor of that option. This is the first work on this topic targeting university students’ perceptions. Implications on the supply of services in the tourism industry are also provided.