Abstract
Since the 1960s, Halal industry and Islamic Finance have grown in parallel without implementing adequate synergies. Halal tourism is a fast-growing sector of Halal industry, and the connection with Islamic Finance has hardly been researched. The aim of this paper is to analyse whether Islamic Finance can play an active role in developing Halal Tourism. This topic has not been empirically researched in the literature. The methodology is based on a fuzzy hybrid multi-criteria method that satisfactorily handles the imprecise nature associated with the information provided by Likert scales. Our results show how culture has a direct moderating effect on the degree of agreement that respondents have over the active role that IF can play, finding that English respondents agree more than Spanish and Arabs respondents. Similarly, our results also show that the knowledge of the Halal concept makes respondents agree more with the active role of Islamic finance. This study provides insights to the main stakeholders, and it can be strategically used to foster adequate synergy between Islamic Finance and the development of Halal tourist products as a way to specialize in a more sustainable tourism.
Highlights
Some regions of the European Union, especially Spain, Portugal and Italy, are endowed with heritage jewels of Arab origin
The total results of the sample show that the degree of the agreement is larger for the involvement and the finance of the Halal products, and lower for the issue that Spain has a lot of potential to become an important player in Halal tourism (HT)
The highest level of agreement is observed by English speakers regarding the Islamic financed some halal projects (Finance) (IF) as a reliable finance system, and the lowest level of agreement is observed by English speakers regarding the attribute already mentioned of IF being a system well adapted to Muslims
Summary
Some regions of the European Union, especially Spain, Portugal and Italy, are endowed with heritage jewels of Arab origin. All of them have been declared World Heritage sites by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). With such remarkable endogenous resources given by the Arab historical footprint, it is still unclear why Spain has not envisaged a more dedicated policy towards developing smart specialization for Halal or Muslim-friendly tourism. Other stakeholders of the tourism industry, such as the food, culture, lodging and leisure industries, could see the hidden potential and react by providing Halal tourism products. In this sense, we would like to highlight that the role of Islamic Finances is still under-researched
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