The COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on Islamic tourism in Malaysia
Total Views: 1023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33102/jmifr.v19i1.406Keywords:
Islamic tourism, impact, recovery plan, COVID-19Abstract
Malaysia possesses all the characteristics that make it an ideal Islamic tourism destination and adequately cater to the demands of Muslim tourists with an abundance of halal cuisine, prayer facilities, and Islamic attractions from places to festivals. With advantages including an extensive and well-developed halal network, good infrastructure, consistent economic growth rate, government-backed business incentives as well as political and economic stability, Malaysia is an ideal Muslim-friendly destination that also appeals to non-Muslims. Unfortunately, an epidemic outbreak emerged in December 2019 from Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, which sparked the COVID-19 virus to significantly impact the world including Malaysia and paralyzed the tourism sector. Thus, this study aims to analyse the impacts of the pandemic on Islamic tourism in Malaysia and refine Malaysia's recovery plan towards this outbreak. This study is qualitative research by using documents analysis to achieve the objectives. The finding indicates the impact of COVID-19 can be monitored from two factors, first is based on statistical numbers of tourists entering Malaysia from arrival and expenditure before and after Malaysia closed the border, and second, the declining number of growth projections from the tourism sector that was affected from this pandemic. Hence, a recovery plan under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture (MOTAC) and Standard Operational Procedures from Malaysia National Security Council (MKN), has been established to overcome the impacts and fresh start for Islamic Tourism in Malaysia.
Downloads
References
Abdul Rahman. S, & Laderlah, S. A. (2018). Exploring Islamic tourism in Malaysia. International Journal of Asian Social Science, 8(9), 735-743. https://doi.org/10.18488/journal.1.2018.89.735.743
Abhari, S., Jalali, A., Jaafar, M., & Tajaddini, R. (2021). The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses in tourism and hospitality industry in Malaysia. Journal of Research in
Marketing and Entrepreneurship, 24(1), 75-91. https://doi.org/10.1108/JRME-07-2020-0091
Alam, A. S. A., Choy, E. A., Begum, H., Alam, M., & Siwar, C. (2015). The factors of selecting Malaysia as tourist destination: Case study on the State of Melaka. Mediterranean Journal of Social Science, 6(3), 491-498. DOI:10.31235/osf.io/dz38w
Badri N. G. et al. (2020). COVID-19 and tourism assessing the economic consequences. United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
Bernama. (2021, June 26). MOTAC establishes holistic framework for Tourism Recovery Plan. https://www.bernama.com/en/general/news_covid-19.php?id=1976040
Cambel, A. B. (1993). Applied chaos theory: A paradigm for complexity. Academic Press.
Daud, A. K. (2019). Development of Muslim friendly tourism: Malaysia’s perspectives. Islamic Tourism Centre.
Dinar Standard. (2020). 2020/21 state of the global Islamic report: Thriving in uncertainty. Dubai Islamic Economy Development Centre.
Foo, L. P., Chin, M. Y., Tan, K. L., & Phuah, K. T. (2020). The impact of COVID-19 on tourism industry in Malaysia. Current Issues in Tourism, 1-5.
Halal Mini Symposium 2.0. (2020). Turning COVID-19 crisis into opportunities in halal industry. Islamic Tourism Centre.
Hall, C. M. (2010). Crisis events in tourism: Subjects of crisis in tourism. Current Issues in Tourism, 13(5), 401–417.
Hall, C. M., Timothy, D., & Duval, D. (2003). Security and tourism: Towards a new understanding? Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing, 15(2–3), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1300/J07v15n02_01
Henderson, J. C. (2009). Islamic tourism reviewed. Tourism Recreation Research, 34(2), 207–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/02508281.2009.11081594
Hsieh, H. F., & Shannon, S. E. (2005). Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research, 15(9), 1277-1288. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1049732305276687
Idris, J., & Rahman, S. S. (2018). Analyzing the marketing macro environment of Islamic tourism industry in Malaysia. In The 5thInternational Conference on Management and Muamalah Empowering Knowledge Sharing Culture in Management and Muamalah (pp. 435-442).
Islamic Tourism Centre. (2021a). Dicsover the Muslim-friendly Malaysia. Retrieved July 3, 2021, from https://itc.gov.my/tourists/discover-the-muslim-friendly-malaysia/
Islamic Tourism Centre (2021b). Vision and mission Islamic tourism centre. Retrieved July 3, 2021, from https://itc.gov.my/corporate/vision-mission/
Islamic Tourism Centre. (2021c). Malaysia’s National Tourism Policy: Focus on recovery, connections, and sustainability. Retrieved February 11, 2021, from https://itc.gov.my/malaysias-national- tourism-policy-focus-on-recovery-connections-and-sustainability/
Khan, M. A. A., & Hashim, H. (2020). The effect of COVID-19 on tourism and hospitality industry in Malaysia, Resurgence in the post-pandemic era: A conceptual criterion. International Journal of Tourism & Hospitality Review, 7(2), 54-62. https://doi.org/10.18510.ijthr.2020.726
Koya, Z. (2020, November 23). Green travel bubble: Individual police permits not needed for domestic tourists travelling in a group, says Nancy Shukri. The Star. https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2020/11/23/green-travel-bubble-individual-police-permits-not-needed-for-domestic-tourists-travelling-in-a-group-says-nancy-shukri.
Landau, E. (2020, November 18). RM200 Million boost for domestic tourism, arts and culture. New Straits Times. https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2020/11/642022/rm200m-boost-domestic-tourism-arts-and-culture
Levy, D. (1994). Chaos theory and strategy: Theory, application, and managerial implications. Strategic Management Journal, 15(S2), 167-178. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.4250151011
Li, K. S. (Dec 28, 2020). Surviving the impact of COVID-19: ‘2020 worst year ever’ in aviation history. The Edge Markets. https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/surviving-impact-covid19-2020-worst-year-ever-aviation-history
Majlis Keselamatan Negara. (2021). SOP Perintah Kawalan Pergerakan (PKP). https://www.mkn.gov.my/web/ms/sop-pkp-pemulihan/
Malaysian Association of Hotels. (2021, May 22). No total lockdown, what’s next? https://www.hotels.org.my/press/89888-no-total-lockdown-whats-next
Mastercard-Cresentrating. (2018). Global Muslim Travel Index 2018. https://www.crescentrating.com/reports/mastercard-crescentrating-global-muslim-travel-index-gmti-2018.html
Ministry of Tourism and Culture. (2020, November 18). MOTAC rolls out recovery plan in collaboration with industry players to revive Malaysia's tourism sector. https://www.motac.gov.my/en/media/release/motac-rolls-out-recovery-plan-in-collaboration-with-industry-players-to-revive-malaysia-s-tourism-sector
National Tourism Policy 2020-2030. (2019). Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2020, October 15). OECD policy responses to Coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 the Aviation industry: Impact and policy responses. https://www.oecd.org/coronavirus/policy-responses/covid-19-and-the-aviation-industry-impact-and-policy-responses-26d521c1/
Razzaq, S., Hall, C. M., & Prayag, G. (2016). The capacity of New Zealand to accommodate the halal tourism market—Or not. Tourism Management Perspectives, 18, 92–97.
United Nations World Tourism Organization. (2019, January 21). International tourist arrival reach 1.4 billion two years ahead of forecasts [Press release]. https://www.unwto.org/global/press-release/2019-01-21/international-tourist-arrivals-reach-14-billion-two-years-ahead-forecasts
United Nations World Tourism Organization. (2020, May 7). International tourist numbers could fall 60-80% in 2020, UNWTO reports. https://www.unwto.org/news/covid-19-international-tourist-numbers-could-fall-60-80-in-2020
United Nations World Tourism Organization. (2021, January 28). 2020: Worst year in tourism history with 1 billion fewer international arrivals. https://www.unwto.org/news/2020-worst-year-in-tourism-history-with-1-billion-fewer-international-arrivals
Wahyono, Z., & Razak, M. A. A. (2020). Islamic tourism in Southeast Asia: The concept and its implementation. International Journal of Halal Research, 2(2), 90-105. https://doi.org/10.18517.ijhr.2.2.90-105.2020
Waisul Karim, A. H. (2020). The Movement Control Order (MCO) for COVID-19 crisis and its impact on tourism and hospitality sector in Malaysia. International Tourism and Hospitality Journal, 3(2), 1-07. https://doi.org/10.37227.ithj-2020-02-09
WHO. (2007). Report of control measures implemented by the Non-European SARS affected countries 2007.
Ying, T. P. (2020, June 23). Hotels badly affected by cancellations. New Straits Times. https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2020/03/575491/hotels-badly-affected-cancellations
Zamani‐Farahani, H., & Henderson, J. C. (2010). Islamic tourism and managing tourism development in Islamic societies: The cases of Iran and Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Tourism Research, 12(1), 79-89. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.741
Zenker, S., & Kock, F. (2020). The coronavirus pandemic- A critical discussion of a tourism research agenda. Tourism Management, 81, 104164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman2020.104164
Zubair, F., & Shamsudin, M. F. (2021). Impact of COVID-19 on tourism and hospitality industry of Malaysia. Journal of Postgraduate Current Business Research, 6(1), 1-6. https://abrn.asia/ojs/index.php/jpcbr/article/view/105
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2022 Muhammad Syukri Mohd Ashmir Wong , Mohd Zaid Daud, Nur Hafizah Harun
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
