Readiness Towards Halal Tourism in Indonesia Perspective of Reality and Religion

Abstract

There is no standardization of halal tourism made by an institution in Indonesia until now although the Indonesian Ulama Council and the Ministry of Tourism have projected it since 2016. This research is intended to investigate the readiness of tourism industries towards halal tourism in Central Java. This study is of a descriptive and qualitative nature. It uses four techniques for collecting data: observation, documentation, questionnaire and in-depth interviewing along with triangulation method to analyze them. There were 200 tourism industries in Central Java prepared as research subjects. The halal tourism products and services provided by tourism industries analyzed based on sharia principles in the Fatwa of the Indonesian Ulama Council No. 108/DSN-MUI/X/2016 include hotels, spa, sauna, massage, tourist destinations and travel agents. The research findings show that few tourism industries were ready to handle halal tourism, while most others were not ready to handle it. The findings recommend strongly that the readiness of tourism industries towards halal tourism and factors that cause it can be a valuable contribution to the standardization of halal tourism being made by Indonesian Ulama Council and the Ministry of Tourism.