EXAMINING THE IMPORTANCE OF MUSLIM FRIENDLY FACILITIES PERCEIVED BY INTERNATIONAL MUSLIM TOURISTS TO MALAYSIA
Noor Suhaila Yusof - School of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Malaysia
Prof. Nurhazani Mohd Shariff - School of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Malaysia
Dr. Hamimi Omar - School of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management, Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM), Malaysia
ABSTRACT
This paper aims to explore the importance of difference types of Muslim friendly facilities perceived by international Muslim tourists to Malaysia. The increasing demand of the Muslim travel market has urged the destination to offer Muslim friendly facilities to cater these groups of tourists’ needs. As for Muslim tourist, they require specific needs especially when they planning to travel abroad from their home country. It is important for a destination to understand the types of facilities that is required by Muslim tourists. Questionnaires were distributed to 462 international Muslim tourists visited the country. This study managed to discover about the important of Muslim friendly facilities which includes general Islamic moralities and the availability of place of worship that is being practiced in Malaysia as perceived by the Muslim tourists.
