Abdul Kadir Haji Din School of Tourism Hospitality and Event Management Universiti Utara Malaysia INTRODUCTION MuslimFriendly Tourism MFT as a new form of tourism Poon Many meanings of the term depending on different interpretations ID: 614884
Download Presentation The PPT/PDF document "UNDERSTANDING MUSLIM-FRIENDLY TOURISM: C..." is the property of its rightful owner. Permission is granted to download and print the materials on this web site for personal, non-commercial use only, and to display it on your personal computer provided you do not modify the materials and that you retain all copyright notices contained in the materials. By downloading content from our website, you accept the terms of this agreement.
Slide1
UNDERSTANDING MUSLIM-FRIENDLY TOURISM: CURRENT TRENDS AND POTENTIALS
Abdul
Kadir
Haji Din
School of Tourism, Hospitality and Event Management,
Universiti
Utara MalaysiaSlide2
INTRODUCTION
Muslim-Friendly Tourism (MFT) as a new form of tourism (Poon).
Many meanings of the term depending on different interpretations.
The normative vs the positive; spiritual vs commercial
What the Quran and Sunnah say about the MFT approach
Al-
Dhariyat
on giving the most generous treatment to the guests through talking and feeding; hadith on friendship, greeting, conversation and gift.Slide3
BINARIES IN THE MFT RHETORIC
The
liberal &
conservative; inclusive vs exclusive
.
Emic vs etic
Believer and non-believer standpoints;
d\Doctrinal
and secular.
Authority-defined and everyday-defined.
Thus the meaning of MFT is context-specific
Trend is towards standardization based on universally accepted criteria.Slide4
CURRENT TRENDS
Market trends: expanding demand and supply
(statistics)
Trends in consumer behavior
(evidence of product differentiation)
Political trends: Islamophobia vs
Islamophilia
Community acceptance: host and guests; Muslims and non-Muslim
Psychographic trends using
Doxey’s
irridex
model Slide5
PARADOXES BETWEEN THE MUSLIM IDEALS AND REALITIES
Muslims are enjoined to be guest friendly hosts who are hospitable to all, yet they remain as exclusive as any other tribes.
The concept al-
taarouf
calls for initiating greetings and engaging in small talks, yet this is not a commonplace practice in Malaysia which claims to be a top MFT destination which should be a MFT model to other
ummah
.
Muslims are enjoined to travel widely to see the signs of the Almighty, yet most prefer to remain in their respective comfort zone.
The spirit of Islam calls for kindness to others: to be mindful and attentive to travelers’ needs, yet this is not happening to the desirable degree.Slide6
POTENTIALS FOR THE FUTURE
Potentials for bridging the social distance between Muslim and non-Muslim.
Convergence of values and mutual respect through globalization and
distantiation
.
ICT (technology) driven cross-cultural communication.
The spread of MFT ambiance which facilitates
edu
-tourism e.g. Japan, Korea and Thailand.
Futurologists’ perspectives on Islam: Nostradamus (1566), Smith (1919), Einstein (1955), Yeoman (2017), augurs well for mainstreaming of MFT. Slide7
STRATEGIC DIRECTIONS
There has to be visionary leadership in the tourism circle that sees tourism as an effective avenue for the promotion of peace and interreligious understanding.
Equal emphasis if not more should be given to strengthen the intangible aspect of Muslim hospitality based on the spirit of the warm Islamic host.
This calls for embedding the Islamic hospitality value in the education system, possibly through the general education courses, both at the secondary and tertiary levels.
Some funds ought to be made available to conduct action research for identifying the Islamic hospitality attributes for further development. At present this subject has not been explored.
The need to develop geographic & cultural literacy of the Muslim world.