Is Sharia-Compliant Hotel a Good Investment? Using Netnography Research Method to Explore the Society’s Perceptions

Halal tourism and hospitality specifically, continue to rapidly evolve with significant growth and potential for future development. However, despite its market potential, halal tourism research is an under-researched area with limited studies done to capture the society’s perceptions on the halal tourism concept. To achieve this, content analysis and netnography methodology have been applied to extract and profile 890 comments on the announcement news made by Terengganu government to promote their investment on Sharia-compliant hotel. As a result, two major factors have been discovered from the mixed responses which could be the result of lack of awareness and understanding on the concept. The insight should be of value to the stakeholder in the development of frameworks to promote Muslim-friendly hotel, thereby encouraging more market confidence and acceptance of this segment. This could further facilitate directions for further sustainable competitiveness of Muslim friendly hospitality investment.