The relationship between involvement with travelling to Islamic destinations and Islamic brand equity: a case of Muslim tourists in Malaysia

The growing number of Muslim tourists in the world has urged many destinations to embrace the concept of Islamic tourism. Malaysia as an Islamic country has been serious on establishing a halal hub for tourism products, however, activities such as drinking alcohol, wearing scanty clothing, sun bathing naked, and serving pork in restaurants are found in this country. Therefore, it is vital to explore on how Muslims who are involved with travelling to Islamic destinations evaluate the country’s Islamic brand equity. A number of 384 Middle Eastern tourists were surveyed in Malaysia. Using structural equation modelling, the relationships between Muslims’ involvement with travelling to Islamic destinations and dimensions of brand equity (awareness, image, quality, value, and loyalty) were explored. Results showed that involvement positively influences all five dimensions of brand equity. The strongest relationship was found between involvement and awareness followed by involvement-quality, involvement-image, involvement-value, and involvement-loyalty.