Introducction
The hotel and restaurant business is a developed area in almost any country in the world, and many cities can offer a wide variation of hotels. Internet and online booking also made search and selection easier for customers, but increased competition among hotels. For this reason, the owners of any accommodations must offer unique and high-quality services to attract and keep customers. Islamic hotels that position themselves as places friendly to Muslims and professing the laws of Islam are trendy today. The authors of the article “The transparency of Islamic hotels” examine the correspondence of the status and information of Muslim-friendly hotels and the influence of this factor on their success. The results and research methods are consistent; however, the interpretation of the concept of an Islamic hotel by the authors and business owners is not revealed, and the discussion part touches on only one aspect.
Summary
The authors of the article explore the issue of transparency of information about hotels that self-represent themselves as Islamic. The lack of data on booking sites and its inconsistency with their official sites can affect the expectations of guests and their stay in hotels, leading to negative comments and loss of customers. The study of the literature related to Islamic tradition allows the authors to discover the features of the business model in Muslim countries, as well as understand the reasons why companies have a low level of transparency (Alserhan et al., 2018). However, the authors emphasize mainly on a research in which they compare the availability of information on the popular halal-friendly online booking service The Crescent Ranking (CR) and sites of top and bottom ten hotels. In addition, the authors use comments from Muslim and non-Muslim guests to analyze the impact of the informational lacks on the number of customers in general. As a result, the authors concluded that Islamic hotels have a low level of transparency, and the hotels with its lowest rate receive the most negative comments.
Analysis of the Theoretical Base and Interpretation of Concepts
The authors of the article devote most of their work to the study of theoretical issues related to the functions and construction of a business model of Islamic castings. For this purpose, they analyze the laws and traditions of Islam related both to eating, living, and social habits and to the moral principles that Muslims profess. For example, researchers emphasize that for Islamic hotels, the business itself should be a more important factor than profit (Alserhan, 2018). This factor is essential for this study, since religion, business, and law in most Muslim countries are inseparable; therefore, for any owner of an Islamic hotel, the traditions, and rules of Shariah should be in the first place.
Moreover, the factor of dividing guests into Muslims and non-Muslims, which the authors used, is logical and necessary for the study. Non-Muslim guests are most often random clients of such hotels, since they did not read information about the features of the place where they stayed, which subsequently affects their satisfaction with the service (Alserhan et al., 2018). However, some non-Muslim visitors may be interested in gaining new experiences and book Islamic hotels in anticipation of seeing their particularities with their eyes, but establishments with non-transparent policies may also overestimate their expectations. Therefore, this issue is vital in determining the impact of the hotel’s transparency on attendance by Muslim and non-Muslim guests.
Nevertheless, the drawback of the study is a limited interpretation of the concept of an Islamic hotel or its explanation in the context of this article is not sufficiently accurate. From the context of the study, the reader can identify a halal-friendly, Muslim-friendly, or Islamic hotel as one that fully complies with all Shariah laws and creates conditions in which Muslims feel comfortable (Alserhan et al., 2018). For example, menus have only halal food, and alcohol is prohibited. However, hotel owners can identify themselves as Muslim-friendly if they can offer special food to guests, a place for prayer and rooms in accordance with Islamic law, but non-Muslim services are also available. The authors of the article do not mention such a difference, which may be an omission in the description of the question if the authors did not clearly identify which hotels they investigated. For example, the hotel indicated the presence of halal food on CR but did not mark this information on the website, or the menu contained bacon for non-Muslims. Nonetheless, this omission has not changed the results of the research.
Evaluation of the Research Methods
The authors of this article have chosen a varied approach to obtain data, which enabled them to evaluate not only the transparency of hotels but also its impact on their rating. The studied hotels are also the right choice, since the sample gave an understanding of the relationship between the level of transparency and the success of the place. The comments of Muslim and non-Muslim guests also confirmed the authors’ hypothesis as they show that unjustified expectations due to Islamic norms or their absence, but not poor service in general, affected the hotel’s rating (Alserhan et al., 2018). Interview with employees and managers also provided inside information that demonstrated a partial mismatch of the described online conditions and real facts. The only drawback of the research method is the intuitive division of guests into Muslims and non-Muslims, since, despite the distinguished comments, the guesses may be false.
Criticism of the Discussion Part
This part of the study is extensive; however, it does not disclose all aspects that are evaluated by the authors in their research. In fact, the entire discussion is devoted to sailing and drinking alcohol in hotels, as well as the indication of different information on this issue on CR and the official websites of the accommodations. This feature exists because alcohol is mentioned in most visitor’s reviews of both Muslims and non-Muslims, and it is important in ensuring the income of hotels (Alserhan et al., 2018). The authors disclosed this question fully describing the impact of alcohol sales on company profits and customer satisfaction, as well as including the facts of their interviews with employees. This question is undoubtedly vital in Islam, as Muslims should not drink alcohol, and many of them prefer not to meet other people who drink it too much.
Nevertheless, the discussion did not mention other important issues for the followers of Islam, such as the separation of men and women, places for prayer, the presence of clubs, or halal food. For many Muslims, these issues are above the problem of alcohol, since a person can avoid a bar in a hotel. However, Muslims need halal food, peace, and a place where they can pray or use additional services without violating the laws of faith. For this reason, the interpretation and discussion section needs to be supplemented to reveal all critical aspects of Islamic hotels.
Conclusion
Therefore, this study reveals the main problems in the information policy of Islamic hotels by the theoretical and empirical methods. The lack of explanations in the interpretation of concepts and results makes the article inaccurate in some of its parts. However, the authors clearly demonstrate all important for Muslim people aspects and show how the level of transparency affects their rating of the hotels and focuses on the need to change such a policy.
Reference
Alserhan, B. A., Wood, B. P., Rutter, R., Halkias, D., Terzi, H., & Serhan, O. A. (2018). The transparency of Islamic hotels: “Nice Islam” and the “self-orientalizing” of Muslims? International Journal of Tourism Research, 20(4), 475–487.