COMPLETION REPORT
Promoting Japan for Halal Tourism: A Multiple Stakeholders Perspective
Ms. Siti Aqilah binte Jahari (+1)
Doctoral Candidate
School of Business, Monash University, Malaysia<Malaysia>
Japan only started to seriously target Muslim tourists in Malaysia and Indonesia after the 2011 Tohoku disaster.
Many tour operators are deliberately promoting Japan as a Halal destination to Muslims. However, to what extent
do these service providers understand and provide services in the Halal way. This study seeks to examine (1) theMalaysian Muslims’ travel needs, (2) the governmental and service providers’ understanding of religious needs,and (3) their strategies in capturing the Muslim travel market. This study also uses Theory of Planned Behavior(TPB) and Constraints Negotiation Theory (CNT) to understand how negotiation of constraints can facilitate
travel.
Focus groups interviews were conducted to identify Malaysian Muslims’ travel needs. Religion related findings
identified availability of Halal food, prayer location and fear of cross contaminated food with traces of prohibitedfood (i.e. pork) as key concerns for Malaysian Muslims when traveling to non-Muslim countries. Although
Malaysian Muslims express great interest to travel abroad, fulfilling these religious aspects without having tocompromise on them is equally important. In the absence of Halal food, Malaysian tourists would seek for dining
at fully vegetarian or seafood restaurants as an alternative. Recently, JNTO has provided a list and location ofMuslim-friendly restaurants. Secondly, to resolve issue of prayer, Malaysian Muslims managed their travel
itinerary by reducing the number of activities in a day to allow time for prayer at hotel.
Findings from focus group interviews also revealed that Malaysian Muslims are less keen on visiting places ofworship due to their religious upbringing. In contrast, activities such as shopping, learning about Japanese culture(i.e. anime, kimono), or experiencing Japanese four seasons are more interesting to them and therefore should beprioritized in promotional strategies.
Interviews with Malaysian travel agencies were conducted to identify their understanding of Muslims travelneeds and their willingness to accommodate and customize their packages. Tours dedicated to cater to Muslim
needs are often termed as “Muslim-friendly tours”, and usually incorporate provision of prayers andHalal/Muslim-friendly food as salient features of a tour package. The levels of customization travel agencies adopt
vary based on their existing capacity and resources. Managements who are serious about targeting Muslims withexpectations to retain their clientele undertake greater effort to provide an enriching travel experience by relating(where relevant) Islam related historical knowledge for sites with such history. Some travel agencies would dophysical visit to new destination for its location and facilities (i.e. availability of Muslim-friendly restaurants) prior
to launching the destination.
Results of quantitative survey revealed a direct relationship between constraints negotiation and intention totravel. This implies that Malaysian Muslims are willing to proactively overcome constraints and undertake effort toallow for performance of religious obligations in non-Muslim countries, thus expressing intention to travel. For
instance, Malaysian Muslims learnt and adapted travel skills to find alternative ways in overcoming issue with
Halal food by bringing pre-packed instant or canned food from Malaysia.

Publication of the Results of Research Project:
Verbal Presentation (Date, Venue, Name of Conference, Title of Presentation, Presenter, etc.)
July 2015, Monash University Doctoral Colloquium, Travel behavior of Malaysian Muslims to Non-Muslimcountries, presented by Siti Aqilah Binte Jahari
26th May 2016, Norwegian Business School, Oslo Norway, European Marketing Academy Conference (A*Conference), Travel Behavior of Malaysian Muslims to Non-Muslim Countries presented by Siti Aqilah BinteJahari) ISBN: 978-82-8247-284-5
Thesis (Name of Journal and its Date, Title and Author of Thesis, etc.)
To submit two papers to Tourism Management Journal (Impact factor: 2.57) by August 2016
To provide findings report to Malaysian Association Travel and Tour Agents (MATTA) Organization bySeptember 2016
To provide findings report to TM Travel and Tours Sdn Bhd by September 2016
Academic: Submitting PhD Thesis by December 2016
Book (Publisher and Date of the Book, Title and Author of the Book, etc.)