Halal Tourism Communication Strategy Comparative Study of Halal Hotel Implementation in Indonesia and Thailand
Atie Rachmiatie, RahmaFitria, Karim Suryadi, Rahmat Ceha
Universitas Islam Bandung
Abstract
Indonesia currently ranks first in the top ten favorite destinations for holidays with an index of 78 in GMTI (Global Muslim Travel Index) 2019. Indonesia is considered capable of developing tourism in accordance with the needs of Muslim tourists who are known to be more specific than the needs of tourists in general. The Indonesian government is also intensively conducting various strategies for developing halal tourism. However, the development of Halal Hotels in Indonesia is not as vibrant as those in Malaysia, even Thailand. The response of hotel industry in particular is not comparable to the achievements of Indonesian government. Thus, it is suspected there are communication problems between the two. The purpose of this study, in general, is to formulate an effective communication strategy in socializing the concept of halal hotel, thereby increasing industrial interest. This concept was compiled through an analysis of industry perceptions towards halal hotel product value and industry interest to implement it. It is hoped this research will produce barriers in terms of information content and delivery techniques which will be the basis for determining effective communication strategies in spreading information about the concept of Islamic hotels and halal tourism in order to increase peoples interest. This study uses primary and secondary data with exploratory research models. The sample was selected using the purposive judgment sampling method due to the difficulty of getting detailed information from hotel-s decision-makers. This exploratory research applies interview method and FGD for halal tourism stakeholders, namely the government, MUI (Council of Indonesian Muslim Scholars), Hospitality Association, and mass media. The results showed that communication plays an important role in strengthening the halal tourism product value. Government as the main communicator has a role to socialize concretely the advantage and benefits of halal hotels implementation. In addition, the government needs to have a specific communication strategy in socializing the benefits of halal tourism to tourists since, basically, the response of industry is largely determined by tourist demand. Industry perception towards halal hotel product value, so far, not only influenced by communication factors carried out by the government, but strongly affected by 1) The main target of hotel establishment (intrinsic factor); and extrinsic factors consist of 2) Tourist demand; and 3) Costs that must be borne. The managers establish and manage halal hotels based on their ideology and understanding and also focus on the spread of religion, as well as the desire to do business. While conventional hotels are run and managed solely based on business. With the high interest of Muslim travelers/tourists in Bangkok, many tourism business managers, especially hotels, have taken an initiative to implement the halal principle in their hotels. Meanwhile in Indonesia, a country with a Muslim majority, the basic halal standards are considered to have been integrated into the lives of its people, including industry. This is why Indonesia has no urgency in applying halal standards and more focus on halal hotel branding instead.
Keywords: Communication Strategy, Halal Tourism, Product Value, Hotel Industry
Topic: Communication