Muslim Tourist Behaviour and Intention to Revisit non- Muslim Countries: The Role of Muslim-Friendly Tourism (MFT) Attributes

Abstract

This study examines the Muslim traveller’s perception of Muslim-Friendly Tourism (MFT) attributes in non-Muslim countries and how these MFT attributes affect their revisit intention. This study utilises purposive sampling, where only Malaysian Muslims who have been to non-Muslim countries were selected as the respondents. A cross-sectional study which includes a self-reported and self-administered survey questionnaire is used. Two hundred and fifty-three (253) respondents participated in the survey. Partial-least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) is used to confirm the research hypotheses. The structural model assessment demonstrates that out of the five MFT attributes, only the social environments and Halal food and beverage availability significantly influenced Muslim tourists revisit intention. The study findings are of high value for travel operators interested in investing in the Muslim markets. The study findings help non-Muslim destination marketers formulate a favourable tourism product and destination image for Muslim travellers.

Keywords

• muslim tourist
• behaviour
• revisit intention
• muslim friendly tourism (mft)
• pls-sem