With the growth of the Halal travel market, varying terminology and definitions have been used to refer to either the total Halal travel market or its sub-segments. Terms such as Halal Tourism, Muslim Friendly Travel, and Halal travel has been widely used in the media. These terms used have had a varying focus, based on who is using the term and in which context.
Crescentrating published the world's first glossary on travel-specific terminology used to define the Muslim/Halal travel market segment. It also covers some of the terms related to an overview of Islam, core values, and practices as well as the terms used in the cultural context of Muslim lifestyle related to travel.
Here we will look at the overall terms used to refer to this market by Crescentrating, media, academics, and some government bodies and organizations.
The level of adherence to faith-based needs may vary from one traveler to another. As such, these terms refer to Muslim travelers who are looking for at least some form of faith-based need while traveling. The vast majority of Muslims will at the very least look for Halal food while traveling.
Halal tourism is used to refer to the tourism segment which caters to the faith-based needs of Muslim travelers. The level of Muslim-friendly services can vary. Other terms used to refer to this segment are:
However, none of them have a universally understood definition.
Many academics begin to define this segment of travelers by first exploring the elements that comprise tourism and its impact. Below are some definitions presented by academics. Their discussion is mainly based on the impact it has on society.
Islamic Motivation
According to Duman (2011) "Islamic tourism" can be defined as “the activities of Muslims traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for participation of those activities that originate from Islamic motivations which are not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited”.
Faith-based needs and services
As a niche market “halal friendly” tourism includes; halal hotels, halal transport (halal airlines), halal food restaurants, halal tour packages and halal finance. Therefore, halal tourism consists of different sectors which are related with each other. (Akyol and Kilinc -2014).
Sureerat (2015) defines Halal tourism as offering tour packages and destinations that are particularly designed to cater for Muslim considerations and address Muslim needs.
Islamic teachings
Fatin Norain Osman (2015) defines Muslim tourism to be based on Islamic teaching that encourages individuals, especially women and children to travel with their muhrim which means that someone who has blood relation with them to provide them with security.
Acknowledgment of growth of the Muslim travelers by leading media, such as Wall Street Journal’s (2014) reference to this segment, revolves around the term “Halal Travel”. They tend to indicate that if Halal food is available then a destination is Muslim-friendly.
Reuters (2014) in their article “Thailand launches Muslim-friendly tourist app” defines it as providing hotels and shopping centers with prayer rooms and halal restaurants.
The Guardian (2014) in their article “Indonesia's Lombok promotes itself as 'Muslim-friendly' tourism destination”, defines Muslim tourism as “sharia” tourism. It further states that Muslim friendly destinations are a place with many mosques. Indonesia has 600,000 mosques it writes.
The Islamic Tourism Centre (ITC) under the Ministry of Tourism have defined Islamic tourism as “any activity, event and experience undertaken in a state of travel that is in accordance with Islam”
Wikipedia states that "Halal tourism is a subcategory of tourism which is geared towards Muslim families who abide by rules of Islam. The hotels in such destinations do not serve alcohol and have separate swimming pools and spa facilities for men and women"
CrescentRating released the first edition of its “Halal Travel Glossary” in 2015. It features a list of over 150 terms and expressions related to the Halal travel market, with an explanation of each term in the context of lifestyle and travel.
At the release of the Glossary, Fazal Bahardeen, CEO of CrescentRating, said: “With an increasing number of destinations and services looking to attract Muslim traveller, there is a need to better understand the terms used to describe the market needs and practices related to this segment.”
Understanding these terms is imperative for all travel-related businesses looking to benefit from the growth of this market such as tourism boards, Government agencies, hotels, restaurants, attractions, airports, airlines, cruises, and spas. The glossary includes terms that provide an overview of terms related to travel and its core values. Each of these has been defined in the context of lifestyle and travel.
Here is an article on a more comprehensive discussion of Halal Tourism
What is Halal Food? An Introduction
9 Faith-Based Service Needs of Muslim Travelers
Travel habits and patterns of Muslim travelers
An introduction to Muslim fasting in the month of Ramadan
A guide to understanding Halal restaurants and Muslim-friendly restaurants
