Islamic Religiosity and Perceived Sociocultural Impacts Toward the Support of Tourism Development in Malaysia

Abstract

Tourism is traditionally closely linked to religion, which has acted as a powerful motive for travel from the time of early pilgrimages to contemporary journeys to sacred places for worship purposes (Henderson in Tourism Manag 24:447–456, 2003; Bhuiyan et al. in Aust J Basic Appl Sci 5:1333–1340, 2011). However, there are also some scopes for misunderstanding between believers and nonbelievers in every religion with the possibility of tensions when the lives of residents and tourists of different faiths intersect at destinations visited (Zamani-Farahani and Musa in Tourism Manag 33:802–814, 2012). This is especially apparent in the case of non-Muslim tourists and resident Muslims, with great confusion and a degree of mutual mistrust between the two worlds in general compounded in the result of terror attacks. These include examples such as the September 11 attacks in the USA and Islamic State In Iraq and Syria (ISIS) terror attack which targeted on tourists and tourist destinations and have made people wonder whether Islam is against the tourism industry (Crooke in New Perspect Q, 32:56–70, 2015). In fact, in some articles, there are attacks that are purposely targeted on tourists (Aziz in Tourism Manag 16:91–95, 1995; Grosspietsch in Working paper series. Sustainable Development through Tourism, 2005). In general, the greatest risk to tourism in Muslim countries is the rising perception that Islam is often associated with negative actions. Thus, there is a need for researches on aspects that have received limited attention in the academic area particularly on observing and examining the relationship between Islamic religiosity, sociocultural impacts, and support for tourism development in Malaysia. Some understanding on this issue is lacking in the tourism literature as well as its structural relationships. It brings the gap to the study in measuring the relationship between Islamic religiosity, sociocultural impacts of tourism, and support for tourism development. The main objective of this study is to investigate the structural relationships between Islamic Religiosity (IR) (Islamic Belief (IB) and Islamic Practice (IP), Sociocultural Impacts (SCI) of Tourism and Support for future tourism development (STD) in Malaysia. The aim is to identify the perception of residents concerning the IR (IB and IP), SCI, and STD that they have perceived based on their knowledge and observation. This study also assesses the mediating effect that SCI have between IR and STD. Convenience sampling was used in this research. The data have been collected through sets of questionnaire answered by 420 respondents who are the Muslim residents of Klang Valley, Malaysia. The result of this study reveals that IR (IB and IP), SCI, and STD are perceived as valid constructs. Findings also show that there are positive relationships between IB and SCI, between IP and SCI, between SCI and STD, IR and STD, and the relationship between IR (IB and IP), SCI and STD is confirmed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences. This area of study helps the tourism players and stakeholders in the planning process, decision, or policies making. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.