Muslim Tourism Promotion in Thailand: Investigation and Evaluation on Tourism Activities and Routes

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate the Muslim tourism routes and activities that promote lifestyles and present cultural identities connecting with religions to evaluate the potentials and capacity of the Muslim tourist market expansion in Thailand.

This research is a participatory action research (PAR) conducted in four regions of Thailand. Various methods of data collection, including document study, surveys, in-depth interviews, organizing forums for brainstorming, and experiment were employed.

The findings revealed the routes called “Andaman Way (of Life)” as the top and unique travel routes connecting Krabi, Phang Nga, and Phuket province, to promote Thailand as a non-Muslim but Halal-friendly destination. The routes connected the way of life of the Muslim communities, local cultural identities, and various patterns of tourism management such as health tourism, sports tourism, and others facilities e.g., Halal-friendly restaurants, hotels, and tourist attractions. The destinations which were organized on these routes ranked according to the potential assessment criteria in five areas: tourist attractions, accommodations, Halal restaurants, transportations, and other tourism attributes. The research team, together with the community and related agencies, conducted the action plan for marketing and public relations such as organizing meetings to promote and effectively support Muslim tourism. Furthermore, there was incorporation with government, experts, and related parties to create and prepare stunning visuals and interesting written contents into a video clip, travel guidebook, and e-guidebook which would be beneficial to promote tourism for Muslim travelers.