THE INFLUENCE OF SHARIA HOTEL INDICATORS TOWARDS ITS COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE AND GUEST INTENTION TO STAY: AN APPRAISAL

Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world, showed an increase in the development of sharia hotels that apply sharia’ laws and regulations as their operating system. This study aims to explore both hotel executives and consumers’ perceptions of sharia hotels and the impact on creating the hotel’s competitive advantage, which will affect guest intention to stay. In-depth interviews were completed with hotel executives of sharia and non-sharia hotels as one group and with sharia and non-sharia hotels guests as the other group. Two major themes were revealed from the interviews: governments are relatively slow in certifying standard regulations for Sharia hotels and there is still a discrepancy concerning the perceptions among hotel executives and customers about what constitutes a sharia hotel. A conceptual model is proposed showing factors that influence both the customers’ intention to stay at sharia hotels and their competitive advantage.