Islamic attributes of destination and muslim travellers’ satisfaction: examining the moderating effect of religious commitment

Abstract

World Islamic tourism is growing rapidly year by year. In Malaysia, the demand of Islamic tourism products has also gained significant popularity based on the increasing number of Muslim tourists to the country in recent years. Unfortunately, this demand has rarely been supported by market studies especially from the perspective of the Muslim travellers in Malaysia. The paper is written (i) to identify the relationship between the determinants of Islamic attributes of destination (IAD) and Muslim travellers’ satisfaction (TS) and (ii) to examine the moderating role of religious commitment (RC). A total of 225 responses were collected and the data was analyzed via multiple regression analysis. The finding of the study shows that IAD has a significant effect on TS. The finding also revealed that RC moderates the relationship between IAD and TS. It is hoped that the study provides clearer understanding about Halal hospitality and travellers’ religious needs from their standpoint in order to develop marketing strategies to attract Muslim travellers and to ensure the expansion of the industry particularly in the context of Malaysia tourism industry.