Halal experiences are insufficient to support destination competitiveness and attract and retain Muslim tourists. The authors argue that integrating dark experiences into halal tourism would improve Muslim tourists’ satisfaction and revisit intention and therefore destination competitiveness. This study aims to test this hypothesis by examining the relationships between site experiential memorability (SEM), Islamic attributes of destination (IAD) and local culture with revisit intention through the serial mediation of experience quality and satisfaction.
The authors randomly surveyed 170 domestic and foreign Muslim travelers visiting tsunami memorial sites in Aceh, Indonesia, and analyzed the data using structural equation modeling.
SEM, IAD and local culture positively correlated with experience quality. Only SEM and local culture significantly predicted satisfaction. Experience quality did not have any mediating effect, whereas satisfaction mediated between SEM and local culture with revisit intention. Experience quality and satisfaction serially mediated all antecedents with revisit intention. To attract the growing Muslim market, destinations must therefore leverage other destination-specific experiences (in this case, dark and cultural experiences) to complement halal tourism.
This study is the first to explore dark tourism experiences and outcomes within the contexts of halal tourism, Southeast Asia and among Muslim tourists. It also demonstrates the necessity of offering other experiences besides halal to pull in and retain Muslim tourists.
