Publication Details
Abstract
Attracting more Muslims tourists has been a challenge for Maldives as less than 5% of tourists are from the Middle East segment and this segment consists of most number of Muslim tourists. Maldives being new to the concept of halal tourism, there is less research and studies conducted to find out the gaps and challenges in the practice of halal tourism in the Maldives, and the fact that Maldives has been catering for the European market for over 40 years, makes it difficult for Maldives to attract more Muslim tourists. This paper is a qualitative paper that conducted telephone interviews with 79 hotels in the Greater Male’ area. Purpose of this study is to assess the availability of Muslim-friendly services in the hotels, where the services were adapted from the Crescentrating’s faith-based needs model which had services important to Muslim tourists; halal food, prayer facilities, water-friendly washrooms, social causes, Ramadhan services, local Muslim experiences and recreation. Data collected showed that halal food was provided from 92% hotels, prayer facilities from 50% hotels, social causes practiced by 42% hotels, and Ramadhan services being provided from 85% of hotels. In addition, water-friendly washrooms, local Muslim experience and recreation according to Islamic values were being provided by all hotels. The practical implication of this paper is recognizing which Muslim-friendly services are most absent from hotels and can be used by Law making bodies in the Maldives to create regulations to increase the Muslim-friendly services being provided in the hotels.