INDONESIA'S RESPONSES TO THE TIGHTENED GLOBAL TOURISM COMPETITION: THE BRANDING OF WEST NUSA TENGGARA PROVINCE AS HALAL TOURISM DESTINATION (2015-2016)

Abstract

The recent global financial crisis has forced international trade in goods to have its sharpest drop since the 1930's Great Depression. It has been years, but the growth remains sluggish. Unlike international trade in goods, however, international trade in services has been less volatile. By 2010, it resumed its precrisis level and it has been continuously growing. As one of trade in services core sectors, travel and tourism has become one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world over the past six decades. Aware of this and other eminence of travel and tourism sector, countries are vigorously developing their travel and tourism sectors. This tightens competition, as more countries are trying to gain shares from the sector. To respond to this, countries need to have competitive identity to attract international tourists. Indonesia, as a Muslim majority country, uses this inherent strength to harness the current global trend of halal tourism, branding itself as Muslim-friendly destination. This thesis will identify how Indonesia is implementing halal tourism, particularly in West Nusa Tenggara (NTB) Province, the pioneer destination to implement such trend in the country, from 2015 until 2016.