A study on core competencies model for Muslim-friendly tour guide in tourism industry

Abstract

The popularity of the concept of Islamic tourism has given more focus on providing guides that may suit the needs of the Muslims travelers. This study seeks to establish knowledge on the notion of Muslim tourism, competencies involved in offering Muslim-friendly tour guiding services, and the current competency level of the tour guides in Malaysia in order to come up with a model of core competencies that anticipates the satisfaction of Muslim tourists. The study sets out four primary objectives: For the first study, to understand the idea of Muslim friendly tour guides in Islamic tourism, to establish what competencies are necessary for tour guides to enhance the Muslim friendly experience, to evaluate the existing competency levels of tour guides serving the Muslim tourist, and for the last, to suggest a framework for the core competencies of Muslim friendly tour guides in Malaysia. Hence, a qualitative research design was adopted, accompanied by in-depth interviews with the tour guides, tourism agencies in Malaysia, also academicians who specialized in tourism industry to provide verbal data, giving a vivid and credible account of respondent’s experience/views. The study identified six key elements essential for a competent Muslim-friendly tour guide: culture and religion awareness, destination knowledge, awareness of Halal food, language barriers, respect tourists’ professional handling treating equally and handling of emergencies situations. On the mentioned elements, all of the participants confirmed the awareness but came up with more enhancements for a broader competency model. The study entails the use of these competencies in an effort to enhance a Muslim-friendly experience; and contributes to the formulation of training frameworks for tourist guides of the Malaysian region. The research importance also points to the need for specific competencies among the tour guides with a view of improving the Islamic tourisms and thus the proposed model of core competencies helps as a directory for the tour guides’ training and development since they have to meet the expectation of the Islamic tourists in all aspects. Thus, this research enriches the knowledge about Islamic tourism and the position of the tour guides in this domain. It will also highlight gaps in the preparation of tour guides and also it can be used to chart the training and assessing of tour guides regarding the area. Besides, this research serves the development of Muslim-friendly tourism and is useful for tourism institutions, operators, trainers, and developers of tour guides for Islamic countries.