The Role and Potential of Halal Tourism in Turkey

Abstract

Muslims constitute the world’s second largest religious group. Generally, travel by Muslims is no different than travel by tourists of other religions. However, Islam has an influence on how Muslims approach tourism because Islam is not only a religion but also a way of life. Travel of Muslims is sometimes mistakenly labeled as “Islamic tourism,” although this term should normally be used only for when Muslims travel to sacred places and strictly for religious purposes. Instead, the term “halal tourism” should be used to describe the behavior and activities of Muslim tourists which are in accordance with the Islamic rules and therefore considered halal (or permissible). This includes all forms of tourist activities regardless of whether they happen in sacred places or not, and whether or not they have a religious purpose. Halal tourism is, therefore, a subcategory of tourism geared toward Muslim families who consider that it is important to abide by the rules of Islam when traveling. Turkey was ranked as the third halal-friendly Muslim destination in the world, in 2015. In total, there are 152 tourist facilities in Turkey that are considered halal. As the total number of tourist facilities in Turkey is 3830, the share of halal touristic facilities can be calculated as about 4 %.