Perspectives: Travellers Views on COVID-19 and Halal Tourism

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemic has affected everyone’s life around the globe in many different ways. The pandemic seems to have changed the way individuals and businesses work due to the restrictions imposed on travel by different countries. Accordingly, Halal tourism (like many other business sectors) suffered great losses because of the epidemic. Since the start of the COVID-19 crisis, two viewpoints seem to have emerged concerning the crisis among individuals and travelers around the world. Most individuals perceived COVID-19 as a worldwide pandemic and dealt with it according to this view. However, some others considered COVID-19 an international conspiracy led by major powers to control the globe economically and politically. The paper aims to offer a theoretical exploration of these two viewpoints with a view to provide some insights into Halal travellers’ behaviour during COVID-19 in Muslim-majority countries. The paper offers an attempt to address different impacts of COVID-19 on Muslim travellers and also on Halal tourism activities. Scholars are encouraged to investigate this phenomenon with empirical data to gain insights into how to minimize the negative impact of COVID19 on the Halal industry.