Factor Affecting Guests’ Acceptance and Loyalty on Shariah Compliant Hotel (SCH) Practices: Empirical Evidence at Five- star Rated Hotels in Malaysia

Abstract

Halal hub is a joint effort among Islamic countries to provide products and services such as halal food, halal manufacturers, halal pharmaceuticals, halal cosmetics, halal packaging, halal logistics products and halal services to be executed globally. Moreover, it has been the aim of the Malaysian government to inaugurate Malaysia as a global halal hub for halal products and services to Muslim countries worldwide. Due to demand of Shariah compliant hotel (SCH), it is very important to illustrate several features and the characteristics of hospitality services that come within the Islamic context. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence hotel guests’ loyalty towards SCH practices particularly in Five-star rated hotel in Malaysia. Data for this study were gathered through self- administered questionnaires on 420 hotel guests’ who have had experienced staying in 45 Five-star rated hotels in Malaysia. PLS-SEM was performed to analyze the proposed hypotheses. Finding showed that SCH practices have positive effect towards hotel guests’ acceptance and hotel guests’ loyalty. Hotel guests’ acceptance have been found to be significant mediator of the relationship between SCH practices and hotel guests’ loyalty. This implies that there is need key players in the hotel industry especially Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia (MOTAC), hotel managers and operators to focus on these factors in the pursuit of a more competitive advantage and long-term profits.