Exploring Tourist Behavior on Halal Food as an Option for Culinary Tourism

Abstract

As one of the countries with the world’s largest Muslim population, Indonesia places a high value on halal, including halal food in culinary tourism. Culinary tourism has attracted the attention of several researchers in recent decades because it enhances tourists’ travel experiences. Although much research has been conducted from economics, marketing, service, and ingredients perspectives, research on tourists’ behavior in selecting food during culinary tours in destinations dominated by non-halal food is still rare. This paper aims to present a framework for tourists’ halal food consumption behavior and investigate the factors that Indonesian tourists consider when deciding to consume halal food. To gain deeper insights, the author conducted qualitative research by conducting in-depth interviews with fifteen tourists at the Suryakencana Chinatown Tour in Bogor City, West Java Province, Indonesia. This study discovered that push factors reflect attitudes toward consuming halal food, allowing individual tourist attitudes to create halal markets and culinary tours, ultimately influencing how tourists buy halal food.