The Influence of Information, Selection of Halal Tourism Destination,
and Marketing Mix on Tourist
Satisfaction and Loyalty
Nurdin Sobari, Hardius Usman and Iqbal Fadli M.
Universitas Indonesia, 16424, Depok, Indonesia.
Keywords: halal tourism, halal tourism information, marketing mix, tourist’s satisfaction and loyalty.
Abstract: As a new segment of the tourism industry, halal tourism enjoys continuous growth worldwide, especially in
Indonesia. This paper discusses the influence of information on the selection of halal tourism destinations and
the influence of marketing mix, which are product, price, place, people, processes, promotion and physical
evidence on the satisfaction and loyalty of the tourists. This is a quantitative research, using consecutive
sampling data collection techniques and closed questionnaire. The results of this study indicate that the type
of information influences the selection of halal tourism destinations. Meanwhile, the marketing mix, of people
and physical evidence, and halal tourism destinations influence the tourist's satisfaction, which eventually
affects the loyalty.
1 INTRODUCTION
Tourism industry continues to grow in the past decade
and poses enormous potential. A publication of the
UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO, 2016)
records increase in international tourists visit
globally. Muslim tourism industry is not an
exception.
The world market for Muslim tourism industry is
predicted to have reached US$151 billion (excluding
Hajj pilgrimage and umrah) in 2015. This number
equals 11% of global expenditure market that reached
US$1.3 trillion. Muslim tourism market is predicted
to continue soaring and reach US$243 billion in 2021.
Muslim tourism market is currently ranked second in
global tourism income source, after China, with
US$168 billion, and followed by the US, with
US$147 billion. Furthermore, Indonesia is also
among the top 6 Muslim consumer travel expenditure
markets, which are Saudi Arabia, with US$19,2
billion, United Arab Emirates (UAE), with US$15,1
billion, Qatar, with US$11,7 billion, Kuwait, with
US$9 billion, Indonesia, with US$9 billion, and Iran,
with US$7.2 billion (Thomson Reuters Islamic
Finance, 2016).
Indonesia has not been taking advantage of this
potential market. A report published by the Master
Card and Crescent Rating in 2016 ranked Indonesia
as the fourth most favorite country visited by Muslim
tourists. The first place was Malaysia, followed by
UAE, and Turkey. Indonesia is not even within the
top 10 halal travel destination, referring to a study
issued by the Thomson Reuters Islamic Finance in
2016. The study uses four indicators, which are the
number of inbound Muslim tourists, development of
halal tourism ecosystem, halal tourism awareness,
and halal tourism contribution to employment.
A limited source of information regarding halal
tourism is the biggest obstacle and needs serious
improvement. Various sources of information, such
as friends, families, or the internet, should have been
the supporting tools in promoting halal tourism, but
it is not well managed yet. The same thing can be said
about the type of information, such as transportation
means, accommodation, religious facilities, shopping
options, food selection, and living cost.
Improvements in these sectors need to be taken
because they are the lure of halal tourism. Studies
regarding marketing mix (product, price, place,
people, processes, promotion, and physical evidence)
of halal tourism should also be taken as consideration
in benchmarking tourist satisfaction and loyalty,
which will encourage them to revisit the destination.
However, there are still limited numbers of studies on
these subjects, as the existing studies only discuss the
definition of halal tourism, syariah hotel and halal
Sobari, N., Usman, H. and M., I.
The Influence of Information, Selection of Halal Tourism Destination, and Marketing Mix on Tourist - Satisfaction and Loyalty.
In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Islamic Economics, Business, and Philanthropy (ICIEBP 2017) - Transforming Islamic Economy and Societies, pages 555-562
ISBN: 978-989-758-315-5
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
555

food. Based on the background, the purpose of this
study is to:
 To Analyze the type of information influences
the selection of halal tourism destinations
 To Analyze the influence of marketing mix on
muslim tourist satisfaction
 To Analyze the influence of Muslim tourist's
satisfaction on their loyalty for intention revisit
or give recommendation
2 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Halal Tourism
Halal tourism usually addresses people with the
Islamic faith, though it also possesses universal
attraction, such as fair pricing, peace, security,
friendly environment and hygiene, whilst firmly
referring to Islamic principles (OIC, 2015). Halal
tourism is defined as activities conducted by Muslims
heading to certain destinations, without
compromising Islamic principles and value (Jafari
and Scott, 2014). Thus, the concept of halal tourism
is also perceived as a way of praying and preaching
(dakwah), in which the tourists are visiting one
destination after another to receive the blessing from
God and to repent and not to repeat their mistakes
(Kamarudin, 2012).
2.2 Information
Information received by the consumers will shape a
perception, which in marketing is more important
than the reality (Kotler and Keller, 2012). This
research divides information into a source of
information and type of information.
a. Source of information
Nowadays, the source of information is even more
diverse than ever. The followings are several
sources of information regarding tourism: (1)
Friends and families. Family members, friends,
and colleagues are the source of information as to
where or whom to visit (Din, 1989). (2) The last
source of information is the internet, (Kamarudin,
2012).
b. Type of information
Type of information is the information that is
directly needed by tourists to fulfill their needs
while they are on tour. Various distinct
information on halal tourism is making it different
from general tourism information. The
information provided should include Islamic
teachings and other details that are needed by
Muslim tourists.
The following hypotheses are proposed to test the
causal relationship between information and selection
of halal tourism destination:
H1: Source of information influences the
selection of halal tourism destination
H2: Type of information influences the selection
of halal tourism destination
2.3 Halal Tourism Destination
Destinations in halal tourism should be related to
God’s majesty and should not violate Islamic
teachings (Din, 1989). The destination is a
geographical location situated in one or more
administrative area(s) that has a tourist attraction,
praying facility, public facility, tourism facility,
accessibility, and local communities in the area who
help to support the tourism that suits the Syariah
concept (DSN MUI, 2016).
There are six dimensions that determine the
characteristics of tourism destination, which is known
as the Six A’s Framework (Buhalis, 2000). These set
of rules are used by tourists to evaluate their tourism
destination options. They are:
 Attraction (natural, manmade, imitation of
natural attraction, purpose of construction, etc.)
 Accessibility (the whole transportation system
that consists of routes, terminals and vehicles)
 Amenities (accommodation and food selection,
retails, other tourism services)
 Available tourism package
 Activities (all activities that are available at the
tourist destination and what the tourists will do
during their visit)
 Ancillary service (services that tourists will take
benefit from, such as banking, cellular
communication, newspaper, etc.)
The following hypotheses are proposed to test the
causal relationship between a selection of halal
tourism destination and tourist satisfaction:
H3: Halal tourism destination influences the
tourist satisfaction.
2.4 Marketing Mix
The marketing mix is a group of marketing tips that
are used by companies to reach their marketing
objectives. Kotler, McCarthy introduced a new
classification of marketing, which consists of
product, price, place, promotion, people, processes,
and customer service. Marketing Islamic products
should be carried out according to Islamic values.
ICIEBP 2017 - 1st International Conference on Islamic Economics, Business and Philanthropy
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This brings new factors to the marketing mix, which
are promise and patience (Abuznaid, 2012). This
research will focus on Islamic marketing mix on halal
tourism. The following hypotheses are proposed to
test the causal relationship between marketing mix,
which consists of product, price, place, people,
promotion, processes, and physical evidence, and
tourist satisfaction:
H4: Product influences tourist satisfaction.
H5: Price influences tourist satisfaction.
H6: Place influences tourist satisfaction.
H7: Promotion influences tourist satisfaction.
H8: People influences tourist satisfaction.
H9: Processes influences tourist satisfaction.
H10: Physical evidence influences tourist
satisfaction.
2.5 Tourist Satisfaction
Tourist satisfaction is the most important element in
behavior analysis and the most important indicator of
the success of a tourist attraction (Jang and Feng,
2007). It should be the highest aspect and the
benchmark in the success of tourism management
(Yoon and Usyal, 2005). Tourist satisfaction serves
as performance evaluation, making it crucial in
tourism competition. Satisfaction is the feeling of
happiness or disappointment as a result of comparing
the performance of the goods and services with the
expectation or perception (Kotler and Keller, 2012).
2.6 Tourist Loyalty
Tourist loyalty is very important. Many tourist
destinations prioritize return visits of the tourists as it
requires less cost than promotion to new tourists
(Opperman, 2000). In this context, it is important to
learn if Muslim tourists would return to visit the same
destination. Tourist loyalty is also influenced by the
satisfaction of the tourism destination (Rahman,
2014). In tourism, the measurement takes place in
return visit and recommendation to other people
(friends and families).
The following hypothesis is proposed to test the
causal relationship between tourist satisfaction and
tourist loyalty:
H11: Tourist satisfaction influences tourist
loyalty.
All the aforementioned hypotheses can be
mapped into the following framework:
Figure 1: Framework.
3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This is a quantitative research using Structural
Equation Modeling (SEM) method and Partial Least
Square (PLS) regression analysis. Data used in this
research consist of primary and secondary data.
Primary data is obtained from surveys and
questionnaires. The questionnaires are addressed to
Muslim tourists who have visited a halal tourism
destination in Indonesia in the past year. Secondary
data comes from literacy studies of books, journals,
websites and other sources.
Targeted population of this research are all
Muslim tourists, either local or foreign, aged at least
17 years old, and have visited a halal tourism
destination in Indonesia. The sampling method is
using non-probability sampling, considering the fact
that the targeted population is erratic and large in
number.
Screening is carried out before conducting
interviews because respondents have to fulfill
inclusion and exclusion requirements. The inclusion
requirements are local or foreign tourists, Muslim,
aged at least 17 years, and are willing to participate in
the research. The exclusion requirements are local or
The Influence of Information, Selection of Halal Tourism Destination, and Marketing Mix on Tourist - Satisfaction and Loyalty
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foreign tourists who have visited a destination for
tourism purposes. The number of samples is
determined by complying with the Structural
Equation Modeling (SEM) analytical technique,
using Smart PLS software this research uses data
from 294 respondents.
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 Reliability Test
Reliability and validity tests are initially meant to
complete a structural model examination. The weight
of the factors in the research can help calculating the
validity of each indicator and help to test the
reliability of the constructs of the variables that are
being researched. Indicators with factor loading less
than 0.4 will be removed from the model. The
acceptable composite reliability value is above 0.6.
Referring to the factor loading test, there are several
indicators that score below 0.4, which means they
have to be removed from this model. In the first
model, 15 manifest variables or indicators were
removed.
4.2 Convergent Validity
In this research, the convergent validity of several
latent variables is learned from the Average Variance
Extracted (AVE) value. The AVE value is acceptable
when all latent variables score above 0.5, confirming
the convergent validity. The values of all the variables
in this research are above 0.5, which means all the
convergent validities are accepted.
4.3 Discriminant Validity
The discriminant validity of a model is acceptable if
the Fornell-Larcker Criterion statistical value of each
latent variable is higher than the correlation value
between one variable and another. Data processing
reveals that each variable has bigger Fornell-Larcker
Criterion statistical value than its inter-variable
correlation value. Thus, all the instruments fulfill the
discriminant validity criteria. The Discriminant
Validity test also reveals that the correlation value
between one variable and the variable itself is higher
than the correlation value between the one variable
and the other variables.
4.4 Composite Reliability
Composite Reliability is an index that displays the
reliability of research instruments. The value of
reliability index can be assessed from the value of
Cronbach’s Alpha and Composite Reliability. The
higher the Composite Reliability (>0.7), the more
reliable it is (Henseler, 2009). Data processing result
shows high Cronbach’s Alpha value for each latent
variable (>0.8). This is in accordance with the high
value of Composite Reliability, which reaches above
0.9. This means all the instruments in this research are
reliable.
4.5 Structural Model Test
Structural Model is a model that connects exogenous
latent variable and endogenous latent variable, or one
endogenous latent variable and another. The source of
information and type of information give 31%
contribution to the selection of tourism destination,
which means there are other variables that make 69%
contribution. Tourism destination and marketing mix,
which consists of product, price, place, people,
promotion, processes, and physical evidence,
contribute 22% to tourist satisfaction. There are still
other variables with 78% contribution to tourist
satisfaction. Eventually, tourist satisfaction has 9%
contribution to tourist loyalty, which means other
variables have 91% contribution to tourist loyalty.
The next step is running hypothesis test to prove
whether there is significant influence between one
variable to another. The path diagram of the
hypothesis test is served below:
ICIEBP 2017 - 1st International Conference on Islamic Economics, Business and Philanthropy
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Figure 1: Hypothesis path diagram.
4.6 Discussion
4.6.1 Source of Information Influence on the
Selection of Tourism Destination
It can be concluded from the test results that the
source of information does not influence the selection
of tourism destination. This result occurs because the
scope of the source of information variable is limited
to only the source where the information is obtained.
The source of information may or may not encourage
tourists to select certain tourism destination. It is most
probable that these sources of information only share
information and knowledge regarding several tourism
destinations, but do not encourage the tourists to
choose the destination (Ho, Lin, and Chen, 2012).
This gives space for other factors or perceptions in
selecting tourism destination. This result is also in
line with The Five-Stage Model. It consists of
problem recognition, information search, alternatives
evaluation, purchase decision and post-purchase
behavior (Kotler and Keller, 2012).
4.6.2 Type of Information Influence on the
Selection of Halal Tourism Destination
It can be concluded from the test results that type of
information has significant influence in the selection
of tourism destination. This result is similar to a
research in Thailand (Paingpis Sriprasert, 2014). The
research reveals that majority of Muslim tourists
visiting Andaman Bay would prefer spending time at
marine tourist attractions, and only a relatively small
number of them are interested in visiting cultural,
historic, or religious places. Thus, a huge number and
a wide range of types of information regarding the
tourism destination are necessary to support the
tourists in selecting the tourism destination.
4.6.3 Halal Tourism Destination Influence
on the Tourist Satisfaction
It can be concluded from the test results that halal
tourism destination influences tourist satisfaction.
The Influence of Information, Selection of Halal Tourism Destination, and Marketing Mix on Tourist - Satisfaction and Loyalty
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Further analysis shows that Indonesian natural tourist
attractions are the determining factor of tourist
satisfaction in selecting tourism destination. This is in
line with another research stating that Satisfaction
depends on the physical attribution of the destination
(supply) and the psychological and emotional
interpretation of the tourist on the destination
(demand) (Yoon and Usyal, 2005).
4.6.4 Product Influence on Tourist
Satisfaction
It can be concluded from the test results that product
does not have a significant influence on tourist
satisfaction. Researchers believe this is due to lack of
innovation and lack of management quality for
Muslim tourists. Two crucial factors in this case are
innovation and management, as well as good
coordination and accordance to Islamic teachings
(Abuznaid, 2012). Another reason is the lack of
fulfillment for Muslim tourists. (Kamau, Waweru,
Lewa, and Misiko, 2015).
4.6.5 Price Influence on Tourist Satisfaction
It can be concluded from the test results that price
does not influence tourist satisfaction. Researchers
believe this is caused by overpriced tourism packages
in Indonesian tourism destinations. Monopoly and
one-sided intervention are not allowed in Islam. The
prices at tourism destinations should be fair and
benefit both the sellers and consumers, as well as
supported by price transparency. Other analysis
reveals that the prices offered by tourism agency are
often overpriced, as mentioned in a research
regarding the prices of tour packages that influence
tourist dissatisfaction (Sarker, Aimin, and Begum,
2012).
4.6.6 Place Influence on Tourist Satisfaction
It can be concluded from the test results that place
does not influence tourist satisfaction. Further
analysis reveals that most Indonesian tourism
destinations are still not accessible in terms of
transportation, accommodation, and proper religious
facilities. This is in line with another research
(Abuznaid, 2012) that finds out that accessibility is a
crucial factor. Another possible reason is that tourists
do not find any unique characteristics of the
destinations, making the marketing less influential
(Truonga, Lenglet, and Mothe, 2016).
4.6.7 Promotion Influence on Tourist
Satisfaction
It can be concluded from the test results that
promotion does not have a significant influence on
tourist satisfaction. Researchers believe this is caused
by many promotions that do not suit the actual
condition of tourism destinations in Indonesia. Both
sellers and consumers should have upheld honesty
and fairness, especially in product promotion,
because it is their responsibility to God (Abuznaid,
2012). The promotion has to include accurate and
factual information. If promotion fails to address the
factual condition, it will not have any influence on
tourist satisfaction, other than disappointment
(Rahayu, 2015).
4.6.8 People Influence Tourist Satisfaction
It can be concluded from the test results that people
influence tourist satisfaction. People aspect includes
customer satisfaction, quality services, politeness,
hospitality, and honesty in serving the customers.
Islamic marketing mix obligates people to dress
politely (Abuznaid, 2012). Employees are also
obliged to respect the rights and privacy of customers
and not to inflict mistrust.
4.6.9 Processes Influence on Tourist
Satisfaction
It can be concluded from the test results that processes
do not influence tourist satisfaction. This is because
there is still coercion in the marketing of Indonesian
tourism destinations, such as the obligation to take
certain vehicles to certain destinations, leaving the
tourists’ vehicles parked at locations far from the
destination. Lack of managerial skills ends up in lack
of communication between the tourism destination
management and customers. These are in contrary to
the processes element in Islamic marketing mix,
which includes procedures, mechanism, and series of
activities for which the services are offered. There
should be no coercion to customers in all aspects of
tourism. Quick and accurate services also should be
prioritized. (Prayag, Hosany, and Odeh, 2013).
4.6.10 Physical Evidence Influences Tourist
Satisfaction
It can be concluded from the test results that physical
evidence influences tourist satisfaction. Researchers
believe that the main necessity for Muslim tourists
while visiting tourism destinations is facilities.
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Buildings are the indicator of the physical evidence
of the facilities. Prohibition on gambling hubs and
discotheques are not negotiable for Muslim tourists
because those places are against the Islamic
teachings. (Abuznaid, 2012).
4.6.11 Tourist Satisfaction Influences on
Tourist Loyalty
It can be concluded from the test results that tourist
satisfaction influences tourist loyalty. Majority of the
respondents admit their satisfaction on Indonesia’s
natural beauty. This is in line with the selection of
tourism destination of the majority of the
respondents, which are natural tourist attractions.
Tourist satisfaction on the tourism destinations will
lead to loyalty (Rahman, 2014) and return visitor
recommendation (Peppers and M, 1995).
5 CONCLUSIONS
This research indicates that Muslim tourists need a
kind of valid and accurate information to find tourism
destination. Furthermore, natural tourism is one of the
destinations that provide satisfaction for Muslim
tourists. Beside of the marketing mix, there are 2
factors which have a positive influence on the tourist's
satisfaction is personal and physical evidence, a good
service like friendly waiters will be a good value as
well as the availability of places of worship and
restaurant halal. The muslim tourist satisfaction will
influence the loyalty of tourists, at the end they will
return to visit and provide recommendation of the
sights to others.
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