IMPACT OF HALAL CERTIFICATION ON CHOICE OF HOTEL BY MUSLIM TOURISTS IN INDONESIA

Abstract

Halal tourism is becoming increasingly important recently. According to Global Muslim Travel Index 2017, ASEAN has the top Halal destinations and Indonesia has the second position. Indonesia is also among the top three Halal destinations worldwide. Still, the Halal tourism has not reached its full potential in Indonesia considering the fact that only 7% of the hotels have Halal certification. Literature review indicated that Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) is the most applicable theory. However, TPB has not been applied in the context of Halal tourism. This study attempts to apply TPB to explore the impact of Halal certification on the Halal tourism. Based on the literature review, this study also tried to assess the role of awareness or knowledge of Halal certification as a moderating influence. A quantitavtive research design was applied. Data was collected from 384 respondents from among Indonesian Muslims who have the experience of traveling and choice of hotels. The sampling method used was random sampling. The results indicate the importance of attitude, subjective norm and behavioral control, which have significant positive influence on Muslim tourists’ intention to choose Halal certified hotel. However, the study could not establish the moderating influence of knowledge on choice of Halal certified hotels.