Malaysia is now looking for a new horizon of global tourism and plays a leading role in promoting Islamic tourism [1]. The Muslim market is of great significant and the number of Muslim travelers is expected to increase in future as the global population increases and the prosperity in Muslim countries, such as Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore is also increasing day by day [2]. More than 50 Muslim countries and about 1.6 billion Muslims are the potential and lucrative market from tourism perspective. United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) reports that international tourism continued its momentum with a 5% growth, or an additional 52 million international tourists, recorded a world total of 1,087 billion arrivals in 2013. Muslim tourism contributed $141 billion that is more than 10% of the global tourism, 78% from 57 OIC Muslim – majority countries and 22 from Western Muslim minority countries. The world’s Muslim population will increase from 1.6 billion in 2010 to 2.2 billion by 2020 and Muslims will make up 26.4% of the world’s total projected population of 8.3 in 2030 [3]. According to Battour, Battor, and Bhatti [4], the potential of Muslim tourists market has been reflecting a rapid growth, and, the Muslim market has specific cultural requirements, which cannot be ignored by marketers. Therefore, satisfying there religious-specific needs might encourage Muslim tourists to travel to a particular destination. The existence of religious values and beliefs can become a vital factor when a Muslim tends to travel abroad [5].

The tourism industry is volatile, complex and highly competitive industry. The complexity of this industry requires travel organizations to assess the external environment or outside factors that will affect the performance and existence of an organization. Besides the performance of individual businesses and attractions, the environment and community in the country will also contribute to positive travel experience among tourist (Formica and Kothari, 2008). Stability in economic, social and political is essential for tourism industry to increase tourist arrivals, attract foreign investors and enhance profitable travel and hospitality businesses to generate income for the country. The incidents like the September 11, 2001 or even the disaster of tsunami in Phuket, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Acheh have significantly affected the tourism industry in the related countries. Jafari and Scott [6], in their study, highlighted that the research on tourism in Muslim countries is not just about religious topics, such as pilgrimage and hajj; rather it involves a lot more. Since, secular life and religious life in Islam is closely intertwined, study of Islamic tourism is about culture and worldview as well as a reflection on Western concepts of hedonistic tourism and travelling. Reviewing studies based on Muslim tourism, the researchers highlighted that a need of understanding the requirements and patterns of the increasing numbers of Muslim tourists. The authors also indicated in their research that the Muslim world provides great opportunities for analyzing the differenced in development and policy decisions offering new information and insights by presenting alternative point of views [6].

Malaysia has been serving well in the tourism industry and hospitality services, ensuring a strong role in Islamic tourism [1]. Most Muslim countries realize the opportunities for tourism development in line with Islamic principles. The concept of Halal or Islamic tourism is new to most tourism scholars and there are few studies carried out by researchers that integrate the teaching of Islam and tourism theories. Some of the tourism models fail to relate to the Islamic concepts in relations to its demand and supply of tourism. Battour et al. [7] studied the relationship between tourist satisfaction and tourism motivation, specifically focusing on religion as being a moderator for the relationship. They represented the term religion with the Islamic practices and norms related to tourism that are available at a destination [8]. The researchers conducted partial least square, indicating that there is a significantly positive relation between tourism motivations and tourism satisfaction. Their research findings also indicated that religion is a significant moderator of the relationship between tourism satisfaction and pull motivation [4]. Nevertheless, there was no effect of religion found on the relationship between the tourism satisfaction and push motivation. Supporting this, Henderson [9] highlighted that a there is a close relationship in which religion is observed to be a powerful force and motivator for travelling and a strong source of attraction for various tourists, drawing devout and people with more casual interest.

Traveling and exploring for the purpose of seeking knowledge, enriching one’s experience and improving our character has been encouraged by Islam. Islamic tourism can be defined as ‘tourism activities, development of product and services, marketing strategies in accordance to Islamic values, principles and guidelines targeted to Muslim tourism for knowledgeable and holistic travel’ [1]. The development of Islamic tourism has given rise to various tourism business components within the tourism industry, namely tour packages, accommodation, transportation and food and beverages, which are required to be studied from the Islamic perspectives. Tourism from the Islamic point of view is integrated in the global vision of civilized interdependent tourism, whose principal bases are: to respect for noble human values and ethics that preserve human dignity and pride; the respect for the natural and societal environment; enhancement of social solidarity by ensuring that local people profit from tourist activities; making effort to give the right of travel to everyone by offering services at suitable prices to all the social classes; respect for the families of various religions and various people who want to preserve their values and the education of their children; and respect for people who observe Islamic values [10,11].

Even though Islamic tourism focuses on Muslim market, non- Muslim tourists are also welcomed to experience the Halal activities, hotels and food and beverages that can be viewed as a knowledgeable travel and wholesome fun. ‘Islamic tourism’ is a new trend in Arab region, which is not simply based on the commercialization of religious pilgrimage, but also focused on giving more local and regional cultural context to travelling and tourism. Butler, O’Gorman and Prentice [12] identify that local input for selection of unique selling points (USPs) of a particular destination is a significant aspect on developing culturally sensitive and an appropriate tourism to enhance and develop international tourism destinations. The researchers created destination appraisal matrix and tested on the representative of Iranian tourism industry. Butler O’Gorman and Prentice [12] suggest that destination appraisal matrix is easily applicable to developing countries and can be used extensively by tourism marketers. It can help in positioning a destination positively when structures, resources and normal expertise are lacking. Euro monitor International report highlighted the potential for a boom in Halal tourism, which follows Islamic rules [13]. It forecasts 66 percent growth in inbound tourists in the Middle East by 2011 to 55 million people, due to the difficulty of getting visas from Western Europe and United States. World Tourism Organization’s “Tourism 2020 Vision” forecasts show that international tourist arrivals are expected to reach over 1.56 billion by the year 2020 [14]. Middle East regional growth rate of tourist arrivals at 7.1%, doubling its world market share from 2.2% in 1995 to 4.4% in 2020. Arab world is at a turning point, where new patterns of tourism strategies are developed to showcase novel product. Tourism Malaysia reported that there is an increase of tourist arrival to Malaysia from countries, such as United Arab Emirates, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. This gives the opportunity for Malaysia to introduce Islamic tourism as a product to enhance the image of Malaysia as a halal hub. Battour, Ismail and Battor [15] state that attributes of Islam are significant considerations for Muslim travelers while deciding to travel to a destination. The researchers also highlighted that provided the issues expected to be faced in non-Islamic tourism, Muslim travelers might decide not to travel to a Western destination due to the absence of such attributes [15]. In their study, Battour et al. [15] conducted two focus group discussions and interviewed 53 Muslim tourists in Malaysia. The researchers identify two major aspects: tangible (halal food and prayer facilities) and intangible (Islamic dress code, Islamic morals, and Islamic entertainment) attributes as Islamic attributes. The researchers conclude that Islamic culture play a significant role in attracting Muslim travelers.

Tourism strategies need to be formulated to meet the demand of the new Islamic market. Strategic analysis utilizes technique for situational analysis. This involves the reporting on current and future opportunities and threat and the internal strength and weaknesses of the situation. The opportunities and threats summarize the external environmental factors and the key elements are C-PEST factors referring to the Competitive, Political, Economic, Socio-cultural and Technological. While the strength and weaknesses analysis summarizes the state of the internal resources of the organization. The study examine other significant destinations for comparative purposes, for example some Muslim countries that are well known in promoting their Islamic heritage as their tourism products to the tourists and some other countries, for example Korea and Switzerland that are trying to provide ‘halal’ tourism products and services for Muslim tourists from other parts of the world. These countries are known as destinations that have become part of Islamic routes and are safely accessible for Muslim and non-Muslim tourist.

Demand for Islamic tourism especially in relation to the needs and expectation of Muslim travelers will be carried out by the researcher. The opinions and feedbacks will be taken from the domestic and international travelers on the importance of Islamic tourism that includes various components within the tourism industry, namely tour packages, accommodation, transportation and food and beverages that are in accordance with the principles and rules of Islam. Islamic tourism can be targeted to both Muslim and non-Muslim market, and could be viewed as another way of seeking Islamic knowledge. The research will focus on identifying whether there is a demand for Islamic tourism and what are the travelers’ opinion and expectation of Islamic travel?

The involvement and participation of the private sectors, such as the tour operators, travel agencies, hotels, airlines and restaurants, are essential to the success of marketing Islamic tourism in Malaysia. Feedbacks from the supplies are, therefore, important in the formulation of the Islamic tourism strategies and the implementation of an integrated marketing communication targeted to specific market segment. This study will focus on identifying answers to following questions:

• What are the Islamic tourism activities (include goods/products and services) that the travel and tour businesses involve and developed?

• What is the existing level of travel and tour businesses participation in Islamic tourism activities?

• What are the benefits/contributions of Islamic tourism towards the economy, social and cultural aspects of the country?

• What are the challenges and opportunities faced by the tourism and hospitality businesses in practicing Islamic tourism?

The study was carried out in three phases:

Phase 1 - Preliminary stage

The preliminary stage of the study identifies the related organizations that are involved in Islamic tourism, such as the Islamic Tourism Center, Ministry of Tourism. A comprehensive literature review aims at developing the foundation of the Islamic tourism concept, theory, definition, principles and other information related to Islam and tourism. Sources of information are gathered from the Holy Quran, Hadith, journals tourism reports, books, conference proceeding and other research publications.

Phase 2 - Data collection: Tourism and tourist supplier

The data collected are a combination of primary and secondary data. This study uses both, quantitative and qualitative methods. Field survey will be conducted with domestic tourists on site and potential tourist at offside selected market that will be approached within the vicinity of their workplace or residency or at international airport. Personal interviews will be conducted with the key informants from travel and tour operators, exhibition and convention centers, hotels and other related tourism agencies. The purpose of the interview is to identify and examine their involvement in Islamic tourism activities and promotion. This will be further supported by the secondary data.

Phase 3 - Analysis and synthesis

The analysis of the data will be carried out using frequency analysis, descriptive analysis, gap analysis, factor analysis, cross-tabulations, correlations, t-test, Anova and regression. There should be indicators used to construct the survey questions and analyze the outcome. The outcomes of the analysis will be extracted by SPSS and the Likert-scale technique is used in obtaining the score value. The final and complete analysis will provide the basis for synthesizing the issues.

Innovative indicators for islamic tourism

Indicators can be measured and monitored to reveal the changing condition of a particular phenomenon. Tourism system, which is highly complex, has a number of tourism-related indicators. Factors that influence actual selection of working indicators in a particular destination or business include: policy relevance, types of approach to be adopted, measurability, level of public support, politics, etc. [16]. Joksimovic, et al. [17] introduced the five (5) groups of the comparable indicators that can be adapted to Islamic tourism, which are as follows:

• Economic indicators that reflects the contribution that Islamic tourism is making to the local economy

• Tourist satisfaction that is necessarily based on tourist survey carried out at the destination:

• Perception of value for money judged by number of repeat visits, and

• Tourist perception of the quality of tourist facilities, environmental quality (water, traffic, congestion, cleanliness, noise) and cultural/social conditions (general cultural interest, friendliness of residents, crime levels).

• Social indicators that are related to social integrity are assessed in terms of the subjective well-being of the host population

• Cultural indicators that measure cultural integrity in terms of diversity, individuality and beauty (of cultures and built heritage)

• Environmental indicators that measure environmental quality and the demands made by tourists in terms of different environmental media (water, air, biodiversity, landscape, etc.).

Social indicators literature shows that visitor satisfaction can be an indicator that measures the level of visitor’s satisfaction, which is measured with the percent of tourists who have revisited the touristic places. Ibrahim, Othman and Isa [18] indicated that the influx, outstanding expenditure and spending power among the Middle East tourists have contributed to the significant impact on the economy of Malaysia. The findings indicated that the Middle East tourists’ major activities are shopping, sightseeing and visiting beaches [19]. The Middle Eastern tourists are satisfied with the services offered by the hotel staff in terms of courtesy and performing services effectively and efficiently. They preferred Middle Eastern food and they suggested that Arabic language signage should be put up at touristic spots [20]. Although Malaysia is the top holiday destination in Asia, it faces competition from Thailand, Singapore, India, China and Hong Kong [6]. According the World Tourism Organization [14] guidebook, socio-cultural benefits to communities can be very difficult to measure. It further indicated the components of the issue and the indicators shown at the Table 1.

Table 1: Component of issues and indicators.

Cultural indicators express the level of protection of cultural identity within a local community as an influence of tourists, who come from a different values and culture [17]. It involves two indicators: firstly, the ratio between accommodation capacities and the number of local population is an indicator of cultural influence, in terms of architectural appearances of tourist region, as well as the demand for securing necessary infrastructure, services and facilities. It can be a burden if the local community is under pressure and unfavorable. Secondly, tourism intensity shows the degree of cultural saturation of local community. Extremely high level of cultural saturation has negative effect on local community, destroying its cultural identity and diminishing the quality of tourist experience.

Social indicators show social integrity of local community from aspect of subjective prosperity of domicile population in the given tourist region.

• The share of tourism in the local net national product is an indicator, which shows at what extent local community realizes the gain from Islamic tourism development.

• The percent of tourists who do not travel by means of tour operators/agencies represents indicator of usefulness of Islamic tourism for local community.

Systematic analysis

Systematic analysis plays a major role in the assessment and evaluation of significant factors, which are comprehensive to be coded. Systematic review or analysis is significantly helpful to develop certain ideas and approaches, by which the qualitative data can be easily analyzed. In order to perform systematic analysis, the study has selected five research studies, which have identified innovative system indicators for Islamic tourism. Table 2 is providing idealistic outcomes, related to the innovative system indicators for assessing its impact on the Islamic tourism.

Table 2: Systematic analysis.

Development of islamic tourism in Malaysia

Malaysia registered an estimated 5.44 million Muslim tourists in 2012 (equivalent to 21.75% of Malaysia’s total tourist arrivals for the same year) compared to 5.22 million in 2011. The Islamic Tourism (ITC), under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture (MOTAC) was officially launched on 2009, established to assist MOTAC, in undertaking strategic tourism research and market intelligence, as well as providing training and capacity-building services in relation to Islamic tourism. ITC serves as an advisor body, particularly in matters pertaining to Islamic tourism, working continuously with stakeholders and industry players to make Malaysia as one of the Islamic tourist destination in the region. The roles and responsibilities of ITC are; 1) Undertaking strategic research on market intelligence for policy formulation; 2) Providing capacity building in tourism human resource and professional service standards; 3) Exchanging information and sharing of tourism best sustainable practices; and 4) Developing strategic partnership with governmental, inter- governmental and NGOs. Malaysia. In the global recognition, Malaysia has been voted as the top destination for Muslim tourists in 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014. Malaysia scored 8.3 out of 10, leaving behind countries like UAE, Turkey and Indonesia. KLIA was also voted as the most Muslim-friendly airport in the world by Crescent rating Singapore [21]. ITC identifies the potential Islamic tourism products in Malaysia, such as history, royal heritage, Islamic education, way of life, history of independence, nature, agro tourism, comparative religion, architecture, sports and outdoor, arts and culture, health and wellness and business.

The compositions of Islamic tourism definition introduced by ITC are as follows:

• Islamic compliance. Halal food, Islamic hotel beneficial places, shariah compliant trips.

• Islamic Heritage and History. Example: Islamic museum

• Diversity among Muslim countries. For example, countries with majority of Muslim population, cultures and lifestyle creating sense of Islamic solidarity.

• Islamic Programmes and Projects. Example: Tilawah International Islamic seminars and conferences programme.

• Learning Islamic Debriefing. A lesson sharing and enrichment by tourist guide from tour session.

• Searching for value-added elements and ideas. For example encouraging tourists to develop new perspectives of life and find a road map for improvement.

According to Butlera, Khoo-Lattimore and Mura [22], the attractions of Malaysian heritage do not represent a particular population, rather it represents three ethnic groups distinctively. Their research reveals that young Malaysian population demonstrate a limited understanding and knowledge and have rather developed specific identifications to their own religious beliefs and ethnicities. Nonetheless, their research participants show that religious or ethniccentred heritage attractions in Malaysia have the power of fostering and stimulating a simultaneous collective national identify if they are effectively promoted and marketed.

Taha and Center [1] reported that more than 80% of the respondents agreed that Muslim tourists prefer to stay at ‘Muslim Friendly” accommodation and services with halal food and no alcohol, clean and hygienic environment, direction of qiblah in rooms, prayer mat provided and separate or different time schedule for male and female using the swimming pool and the gymnasium. This is supported by a study conducted by Creative Minds Media that shows the Muslim Travel Index Europe 2014, a research on the attitudes and behaviour of majority Muslim populations to tourism in the future and their experiences of countries they have already visited in Europe. Based on the research that had been conducted, the most sought by Muslim tourist are “Halal Food” (67%), followed by “Overall price” (53%), and “Muslim-friendly experience” (49%). In another study carried by Creative Minds Media in Muslim Travel Index Europe 2014, surveyed on the attitude and behavior of majority of Muslim tourists visiting Europe whether the traveler follow a Halal lifestyle whilst travelling abroad. The results are as follows:

• Over half from Middle-East and Far-East have travelled to Europe for leisure purposes

• England, Italy, Turkey, France and Germany are the most popular destinations of choice

• Travellers from the Middle-East and Far-East are choosing to stay in apartments/flats over hotels

• Facilities that allow Islamic travellers to follow a Halal lifestyle are important to everyone when considering to travel abroad

• And providing Halal Food or appropriate praying facilities are the most important factors

• There is room for improvement amongst the popular destination countries as around 1/3 rate the facilities catering to a Halal lifestyle as ‘average’.

Battoura et al. [23] attempted to empirically test the impact of overall tourist satisfaction on destination loyalty and travel motivations (pull and push factors). They found a significantly positive relation between tourism motivations and tourist satisfaction. Battour et al. [4] also highlighted a positive relationship between destination loyalty and tourist satisfaction. The study findings indicated that the most vital pull factors of motivation for Muslim tourists include wider activities and space, shopping and cleanness, modern atmosphere, and natural scenery. The most important push factors of motivation for Muslim tourists include family togetherness, escape, education/ knowledge, adventure and excitement, and achievement. Islamic tourism can contribute to social conditions that may lead to positive changes to existing multi-racial and cultural, such as in Malaysia. This study is on-going and will be completed by December 2015. We wish to acknowledgement to the Institute Research Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia and the Ministry Education of Malaysia for supporting this research through the Exploratory Research Grant Scheme (ERGS) from 2012-2015.

Islam and tourism are multi-disciplinary area, and therefore, a joint effort is needed to deepen the discussion on Islam and tourism. It is important to mention in this chapter that that tourism and hospitality management can incorporate the Islamic management of ‘Maqasid al-Shariah’. Muslim scholars hold the opinion that the ultimate objective (Maqasid al-Shariah) are necessary for peaceful co-existence of mankind, according to the holy Quran and Sunnah, that includes the five main areas: 1) protection of life; 2) protection of religion; 3) protection of progeny or offspring; 4) protection of intellect or faculty of reason; 5) protection of material wealth or researches [24]. To date, there is little discussion on the application of Maqasid al-Shariah in formulating Islamic tourism management and Islamic marketing of travel and hospitality product and services. The concept of moderation that is ‘wasatiyyah’ should be adopted in all aspect of the management and operation of Islamic tourism. Wasatiyyah or the principle of moderation and balance is an important but somewhat neglected aspect of a moral virtue relevant not only to personal conduct, but also to the integrity and self-image of communities and nations. The significance of this study is the current emergence of new ideas from Islamic intellectual transformation on modern and western models with its emphasis upon the unity of Islamic tourism ideology and theories. Therefore, this study will develop new expertise and approaches to establish in the study of tourism from the Islamic perspectives. The main output of the study will be the form of the development of marketing strategic plan-strategy formulation and implementation for Islamic tourism. It is to recommend a system for the development of the knowledge base for Islamic tourism and to introduce the best monitoring system for the indicators of Islamic tourism. The study will be completed in 2015 and development of the C-PEST indicator index for the Islamic tourism will assist the government agencies in measuring the values of the potential Islamic tourism market. This is in line with the Tourism National Key Economic Area (NKEA) and the Tourism Transformation Plan that aims at attracting high yield tourist markets and contribute significantly to Malaysia’ s tourism roadmap in receiving 36 million foreign tourists and bringing in foreign revenue of USD54.3 billion in 2020 [25,26].

We wish to acknowledge the Institute Research Management, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia and the Ministry Education of Malaysia for supporting this research through the Exploratory Research Grant Scheme (ERGS) from 2012-2015.