The expectations of Muslim religious customers in the lodging industry: The case of Turkey

Abstract

As the world tourism market is constantly growing, at the same time market segmentation practices also increase. One of the new and growing market segments is religious tourism. Also, religious tourism is being sub-segmented according to different religions and different countries. Being secular and also having a Muslim majority in its society, Muslim-religious tourism in Turkey began in 1990s and there is an increase in the number of Islamic hotels which meet the demand. Muslim-religious tourism has been studied little around the world. And in Turkey, there are few non-empirical studies about the subject. This study is the first empirical research ever conducted about religious tourism subject in Turkey. The object of this study is, to determine expectations and experiences about the hotel services of domestic tourists who take part in Islamic tourism. The study is based on a survey which implemented on customers who accommodate at Islamic hotels. Results indicate that, the expectations and experiences of Muslim religious (devout) domestic tourists in Turkey have distinctive characteristics.