Enhancing Muslim-friendly tourism in Australia: Opportunities, challenges, and future directions

Abstract

largely untapped market, attracting the attention of both OIC and non-OIC countries. This paper will be looking at the evolution of Muslim-Friendly Tourism (MFT) in Australia, especially in terms of governance systems, perceptions of stakeholders, and future strategic aspects. A qualitative interpretivist design was adopted in which 15 semi-structured expert interviews were carried out in New South Wales and Queensland among policymakers, industry representatives, academicians and international Muslim travel experts. It indicates that MFT has strong awareness of this as a high-growth economic segment, but the conceptual vagueness and fragmentation of governance limit its strategic integration. In addition to the provision of the services, cultural safety proved to be an important factor of Muslim traveller experience This study contributes to the development of the body of knowledge on Muslim-friendly tourism in a non-OIC setting and offers recommendations regarding the development of the Australian global competitiveness based on evidence.