Assessing Readiness to Develop Halal Tourism in South Kalimantan, Indonesia
Mochammad Arif Budiman*, Manik Mutiara Sadewa, Lusiana Handayani
Prodi Akuntansi Lembaga Keuangan Syariah, Politeknik Negeri Banjarmasin
*m.arif.budiman[at]poliban.ac.id
Abstract
The halal tourism industry has grown rapidly in recent years throughout the world. This motivates a lot of countries to develop their potential to attract as many tourists as possible. Being the biggest Muslim country worldwide, Indonesia has great potential for this halal tourism industry. Unfortunately, the potential has not been developed evenly in many provinces of the country. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to assess readiness to develop the province of South Kalimantan as a favorite halal tourism destination in Indonesia. The study was conducted with qualitative and quantitative approaches using observation and survey methods. The findings show that South Kalimantan has great potential and promising prospects for developing the halal tourism industry and attracting domestic and foreign visitors because of its Muslim population, strong Islamic heritage and rich cultural traditions as well as beautiful natural panorama. However, this province has several shortcomings in developing halal tourism mainly due to limited facilities and infrastructure to support tourism and a lack of cleanliness, tourism innovation, and promotion.
Keywords: halal tourism, readiness, tourist destination, Islamic heritage, visitor
Topic: Islamic Economics, Business and Accounting