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Defining and Exploring the Dimensionality of ‘Halal Hotel’ Concept

_ ABSTRACT Islamic tourism highlights the growing importance of what for many may be an untapped and unknown market. With one billion followers across 57 countries, Islam’s role in tourism is important to tourism and hospitality managers in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. Consequently, government policies, strategies and programs the ‘halal hotel’ as the term to be use among the Muslim-friendly tourism and hospitality (MFT) sector in Malaysia. A qualitative research method is chosen to conduct this research, and the samples are from the stakeholders which consist of Islamic scholars, operator and the hotel’s guest.


INTRODUCTION
Tourism is the second largest industry and contributes to Malaysia's gross domestic product (GDP). Thus, tourism is an activity that is expected to create a chain of lucrative economic opportunities. Due to the measures taken by the government, Malaysia is now a prominent centre and one of the most popular Islamic tourism destinations in the global Muslim tourism market. In the Global Muslim Travel Index 2021 recently, Malaysia remains top-ranked destination in the Mastercard-Crescent Rating Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI) 2021; as it has been since the launch of the index in 2015. The survey was conducted on 140 destinations, considering aspects and criteria that include infrastructure, communication, and how a destination markets its position to a target audience such as environmental conditions and services. Furthermore, Malaysia's religious tolerance help improve its perception as a liberal harmonious, multiracial, and multi-religious Muslim country (Hashim & Murphy, 2005).
In similar vein, Malaysia boasts a well-developed halal industry and an extensive network of halal eateries around the country -two of its biggest strengths when it comes to Islamic tourism. Ultimately, Malaysia also has become the pioneer in the development of halal standards and to-date has published no less than ten Malaysian Standards (MS) which are used as a guideline not only nationwide but also globally. Hence, Malaysia's Islamic tourism sector is also taking the same route as its halal sector with its own set of standards and guidelines. These standards play a crucial role in establishing Malaysia's credibility in the global Islamic trade and tourism industry through streamlining best practices, creating systematic development and avoiding misuse and abuse by irresponsible, profit-motivated operators.
In more recent development, the Halal Industry Master Plan 2030 (HIMP 2030) was also established by the Ministry of Economic Affairs to strengthen the socioeconomic development of the halal sector. Particularly, HIMP 2030 integrated halal industrial trend and development assessment following specific sectors. The master plan corresponded to the Malaysian halal industry developmental framework which not only demonstrated possibilities, but more importantly provided opportunities for local socioeconomic advancement to optimise potential financial returns. Scholarly writings involving Malaysian Islamic tourism and hospitality (specifically on the ap-propriate law as well as loging operators' and lodgers' viewpoints) need to be strengthen as most writings generally emphasised halal food or halal medicine.
Elaborating on current developments, the increasing number of Muslim travelers and their purchasing power has triggered hotel operators to realize the potential of Muslim market (Henderson, 2010). It has become the focus of academicians and practitioners because of the introduction and the implementation of one concept to another by the hotel operators in capturing the Muslim travelers' market. Generally, there are two trends of growing hotel concepts that have been widely introduced to penetrate the Islamic hospitality industry; Dry hotel and Shariah Compliant hotel (Nur'Hidayah et al., 2012a, b). However, many people are still confused and misunderstood with the term "Dry" and Shariah Compliant hotel practices thus create their own interpretation and understanding which lead to the misconception of these two concepts (Birchall 2009).
Hence, researchers and hotel operators have struggled to arrive to an agreement as to what is the most appropriate term or concept that could best and comprehensively describe a hotel that operates according to the Islamic rules and regulations. Consequently, this has resulted in the less knowledge and confusion on the subject matter. A study done by Rosenberg and Choufany (2009) also indicates that the overuse of the term has confused those hotels that are merely 'dry' with those that are fully 'Shariah Compliant'. This is because some Dry hotels called themselves as Shariah Compliant hotel by only emphasizing on the prohibition of selling alcoholic beverages in the hotel, but did not imply a full commitment as Shariah Compliant hotel requirements (Henderson, 2010c). Moreover, there is also confusion about the precise pre-requisites of a 'halal hotel' (Javed, 2007;Hotelier Middle East, 2008) with a range of interpretations, indicative of a spectrum of adherence and some have proposed a regulatory body to resolve uncertainties and establish minimum standards. Thus, studies on Islamic hospitality have become significantly important in the world today.
Elaborating on current developments, the primary thrust in this study is to enable the findings of this research to be utilized as guidance to the stakeholders concerned such as government and hotel operators in order for Malaysia to exploits an untapped an unknown market as Islam's role in tourism is important to tourism and hospitality managers in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries. The fact that there are no formal criteria for 'halal hotel' in the hotel sector in Malaysia, a study therefore needs to be conducted to explore and determine the 'halal hotel' concept with regards to its practices in a hotel. As this study is exploratory in nature, gathering the required primary data based on the in-depth interviews consisting open-ended questions will be implemented towards representative from three different perspectives; from the experts (Islamic Scholars), service providers and consumers that patronage the respective service providers.

The Utilization and Need for Terminology
The need for communication forced humans in the past to develop a tool whose absence would make our life difficult to imagine, and make mere thinking, development and even contemplation impossible; that tool is language. The developments in language to satisfy and refine meaning in order to refer to what is meant and not anything else, is behind the rise of the theory of naming which takes the fundamental function of language to be giving names to all objects, and later to cognitive concepts. It is the theory promoted by Kripke (1972) in his Naming and Necessity, which holds naming to be the cornerstone for arguing for meaning by necessity, i.e. the word can refer to (and mean) one concrete (signified) entity, or concept and not anything else. Though this theory has its critics, it upholds the necessity condition, which is relevant to the discussion of technical terms that will be discussed in the later part of this paper. Terminology is the legitimate child of abstraction, because it is born within the framework of a new theory, a new school of thought, a new discovery or religion. Hence, Islamic terminology is part of the last group and among the features of Islamic terminology is the openness to a vast potential of thought, reasoning, contemplation, practical affairs and involvement in creating terminology in various fields, which according to Al-Jabri (1993) led to the emergence of new sciences in addition to contributing to old ones. The translator of Islamic literature feeds on this potential of Islamic terms, and theorists in the past and now also use this potential to support their theories. Basically, terms are labels or designations in the language when people are organizing, referring to, or communicating something about concepts. These terms play a crucial role in communication involving technical concepts, especially in contexts where there is need to avoid ambiguity or confusion. Grammatically, terms can be simple (single words) or complex (multiple expressions). (Olohan, 2016).
Terms about Quran recitation and legality of inheritance would not be known had they not occurred in the Holy Quran, and terms about the Prophet's sayings (Hadith) were not known before the contribution of the Prophet's sayings scholars to the various aspects of this tradition. The expansion in shari՝a studies and Islamic culture and Islamic studies, like worship, jurisprudence, commercial transactions, civil society, studies of Islamic communities and countries including the relationship between Islam and the other and, significantly, translating Islamic texts, all present areas open for generating new technical terms. Therefore, the study of Islamic terminology needs to undergo a comprehensive review of current usage, in order to find the appropriate approach to modern usage. This is particularly true if one remembers that old scholars reviewed and reformed terminology by taking real life context into consideration and by endorsing social welfare. Eventually, the target language terms can be used appropriately by target language specialists in their research and communi-cation processes, and these terms become part of the terminological system of their special language (Giaber, 2017).

Tourism and Islam
Travel and tourism are integral to Islamic political, economic, legal and social policies. Based on the Islamic worldview of God, man and nature, tourism is part of the addin (way of life) and travel is fundamental to Islam (Quran Chapter 29: verse 20; Q22:46). Life is a journey in the way of God, thus tourism in Islam stressed the sacred goal of submission to God's ways. Travelling in Islam is a purposeful activity that aims to achieve physical, social and spiritual goals (Kadir, 1989).
The physical goal leads to a healthy and stress-free life, which subsequently lets Muslim serve God better. Islam encourages visiting Muslim brothers, as this helps strengthen the silaturrahim (bond) among the ummah, or Muslim community (Q49:10). The spiritual goal reinforces one's submission to God through the beauty and bounty of God's creation; grasping the smallness of man reinforces the greatness of God and learning from past mistaken (Q29:20; Q30:42 and Q16:36).
Unlike many Westerners where hedonistic consumption helps drive tourism, travelling in Islam tests one's perseverance. For example, alcohol, prostitution, men and women mixing and gambling contradict purposeful Islamic travel (Henderson, 2003a;Kadir, 1989). As Islam preaches aurah, dress codes such as women covering all but their face and hands, scanty women's clothing and men's shorts above the knee are discouraged. Muslim travellers should abstain from profligate consumption and indulgence (Kadir, 1989).
Yet travellers in Islam are exempt from some compulsory duties, provided the travelling serves meaningful physical, social and spiritual goals. For instance, travellers may postpone fasting, as well as shorten or combine prayers during Ramadhan (Q4:101). In addition, hosts should treat travellers with compassion and thoughtfulness.
The teaching of Islam influences tourism activities in Muslim countries. However, countries and cultures interpret Islamic Law differently (Sechzer, 2004). Most Middle Eastern countries have strong Islamic laws due to the religion's Arabic roots and hosting most of Islam's holiest places. In Saudi Arabia for example, drinking alcohol, discos and pubs are prohibited for Saudi citizens (Kadir, 1989). To maintain racial and religious harmony and for modernity (Hendrson, 2003b;Kadir, 1982), Islamic Law is more relaxed in countries such as Malaysia, Dubai, Oman, Indonesia and Turkey. Selling liquor or men and women dressing against Islamic codes exist in these countries.

Three Aspects in Service Marketing
The importance of the services sector in the world economy is growing. As countries become more developed and income levels rise, the observable trend, known as the "hollowing out effect", is that the emphasis of economic activity shifts from the agricultural and manufacturing sectors to services (Lovelock et al., 2004). This makes research on services increasingly important and relevant to the developing economies in Asia which have enjoyed relatively high economic growth rates in the past decade.
As such, a better understanding of consumer service expectations especially in the hotel industry is potentially valuable to both marketing practitioners and researchers. In this study, we focus on the hotel that implementing Islamic guidelines segment because they represent a significant potential market in Asia as halal users are enormously gaining pace in the world. Hence, we will discuss the service marketing area through the perspectives of Booms and Bitner; 3P's to service marketing: people, process and physical environment.

(People) Employer and Employee
People are the most important elements in any service or experience. Since inseparability and variability lead to a customer experience, which, we say, one of the aspects of expected performance, are often altered to meet the individual needs of person consuming it. Then we can imagine the situation that people always buy from people that they like, so that the skills, attitude, appearance of staff go up to the top class.

Process
There are several kinds of perceptions within business and literature about process. Some others argue that there are processes integrated to create an overall marketing, like telemarketing and internet marketing can be integrated. A further view is that process is to control marketing, such as measuring achievement objectives. All these views are not particularly customer focused.

Physical Evidence
The physical facilities of a service are otherwise known as the servicescape (Bitner, 1992;Reimer and Kuehn, 2005). This term is used to describe the physical surroundings of a service. Darley and Gilbert (1985) and Russell and Snodgrass (1987) maintain that the servicescape can affect the degree of success that the consumer has.

Figure 1: 3P's Model in Service
From the model in Figure 1 above, there are five sectors in the service progression. Actually each of these five is a mutual process, attraction, benefiting, closed, decision and eternity, they do require two sides, service organization and customer, to perform an effect on each other. In the old days service provider was a proactive side, while customer was a passive one. But now the situation is somehow reversed. So how to utilize owned strength to catch customers and develop a sustainable balance in the interaction, before and after service, comes first. And again we need to emphasis on the people, who are the main force in interaction, and physical evidence, which is a medium for support management to convince consumers. It's these three parts; namely, 3P's that they work on customers together to complete a service.
A customer's needs derive from the value creation progression of a customer and how he wants to be supported. In the 3P's marketing model, service organizations' encounters interact with customers while support management keeps up the balance with customers through physical evidence. Also in the process of interaction, which is a mutual progression, service suppliers need to understand customers and potential customers. Needs, wishes, value systems and value-creating method of customers are of vital importance for the development of service organizations. Moreover, we should notice that 3P's factors are interrelated, so are those five sectors of process. People are the basic foundation of provider to accomplish service and the interaction part that communicate with customers. Physical evidence is one of the most important support functions that convert those tangible facilities or signals into confidence of customers. Process, with its five cooperative sectors, is the progression that realizes customers' wishes and makes service suppliers and customers benefit each other side. And with the cooperation of these three factors, service organizations can do better instrumental performance and expressive performance so that the customers' expected service can be fulfilled thoroughly.

The 'halal hotel' Concept
Muslim customers/consumers are concerned with the product whether it is halal for consumption from the perspective of Islamic religious obligations. When products are certified halal by a recognized authority, this reflects an assurance of compliance of the halal principle in its production. Thus, the customers/consumers will have confidence that the products can be consumed without violating their religious obligations. We define a product as anything that can be offered to a market for attention, acquisition, use, or consumption that might satisfy a want or need. Products include more than just tangible goods. Broadly defined, products include physical objects, services, events, persons, places, organizations, ideas, or mixes of these entities.
According to Shahidan and Md Nor (2006), most manufacturers and marketers use halal certification and logo as a way to inform and to gain consumer confidence that their products are halal and are in compliant to Shariah law. Moreover, Malaysian Muslims especially, are very concerned for the confirmation of the status of halal products and the status of halal certification. These are more important than the other types of certification (Shahidan and Md Nor, 2006). Kirwan (2006) refers to as a socially constructed quality criterion, which incorporates not only the physical properties of the product but also the conditions under which it is produced, distributed, and retailed. Hence, diverse Muslim cultures and interpretation can create problems and concerns for non-Muslim tourists in Muslim country as well as Muslim tourists in Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

Halal is a typical example of what
For example, brochures, concierge desks and websites should include Muslim-related information such as prayer times, mosque and halal food locations. Muslims are particular with their foods; they do not drink alcohol and eat pork. Chicken and other meats must come from a halal source, which refers to animals slaughtered in accordance with Islamic Law. Eating halal is compulsory for Muslims. If unsure if the food is halal, vegetarian meals are their only option. Hotels could also accommodate Muslim tourists by having arrows pointing towards Mecca on the room ceilings, excluding alcohol in the mini bar and providing halal meals. A few hotels and tourist attractions in non-Muslim countries such as The Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Australia, Hilton Glasgow and The Intercontinental Hotel in Prague have started to offer halal meals.
As for catering to non-Muslim in Muslim countries, on the one hand some tourists would enjoy the experience of understanding and showing their appreciation of Islamic concepts. On the other hand, tourists should be aware of possible awkward situations due to ignoring Islamic customs. However, westernization has influenced many parts of Muslim life and the influence varies by country. For example, there is a great difference between doing business in the relatively liberal Tunisia and conservative Saudi Arabia (Vogel & Hayes, 28 January 2002).

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
To achieve the objectives of the study, the method used is qualitative study. In order to explore the 'halal hotel', this qualitative study examines and 'triangulate' the different perspectives from three major stakeholders; Islamic scholars, hotel owners and consumers. First, a review of the literature examines Islamic tourism and hospitality. Next, this paper trying to uncover the different terms used to describe 'halal hotel' based from the opinion of the stakeholders (Islamic scholars, practitioner and hotel's guest). Then, analysis to uncover in details the operations of the 'halal hotel' based on the three service marketing aspects was discussed thoroughly to conceptualize the dimensionality of a 'halal hotel'. Finally, the paper aim to proposed and ultimately conclude the 'halal hotel' concept that could be practiced in the hospitality industry.
Therefore, this study manage to get two representatives of Islamic Scholars; one from the Department of Al-Quran and As-Hadith, Academy of Islamic Studies University Malaya Kota Bharu, Kelantan. The other one is from the Department of Siasah Syar'iyyah, Academy of Islamic Studies University Malaya Kuala Lumpur.
As for the service provider, that is 'halal hotel' practitioner and also 'hotel guest', this study manage to get a respondent who has hold the top management position in a hotel that practices and also promote the Islamic guidelines. As the implementation of 'halal hotel' in the accommodation industry is relatively new only start to grow, the possibility to get the sample of a hotel that truly applying the concept of 'halal hotel' in a short period of time is very difficult. Therefore, only one hotel that truly match the sample required for the study was found and studied comprehensively through in-depth interview.
The primary thrust in this study is to enable the findings of this research to be utilized as guidance to the stakeholders concerned such as government and hotel operators in order for Malaysia to exploits an untapped an unknown market as Islam's role in tourism is important to tourism and hospitality managers in both Muslim and non-Muslim countries.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS
The 'halal hotel' concept In Malaysia, Muslim customers/consumers are conscious or concerned with the product (goods and/ or services) whether it is halal for consumption from the perspective of Islamic religious obligations. When products are certified halal by a recognized authority, this reflects an assurance of compliance of the halal principle in its production. Thus, the customers/consumers will have confidence that the products can be consumed without violating their religious obligations. Moreover, Malaysian Muslims especially, are very concerned for the confirmation of the status of halal products and the status of halal certification. These are more important than the other types of certification (Shahidan and Md Nor, 2006).
Since then, the government had widened the scope of the sector's activities that needs to get the 'halal certification' by enacting laws, introducing liberalized rules and procedures, establishing appropriate financial, administrative and support system institutions as well as extending the coverage of all these into rural, semi-urban and urban areas of the nation, encompassing the agricultural, industrial and services sectors of the economy. This is in line with fast gaining worldwide recognition of halal product which also being recognized as a new benchmark for safety and quality assurance. Halal product is highly sought after, not just by the 1.5 billion Muslims around the world, but by people from diverse races and religions who are looking for clean, pure and also product which is not harmful.
The Islamic scholars agreed on the initial concept or name to be used in establishing the hotel concept or name to be used towards hotel that implementing Islamic guidelines is actually the "unseen" inner force that seems to propel the entrepreneur or the owner of the hotel who intends to establish it. They also agreed that whatever name to be used for the hotel; either: a) 'halalan tayyiban' hotel b) 'halal' hotel c) 'Shariah-compliant' hotel d) 'Islamic friendly' hotel is actually not so relevant in order to establish a hotel that implementing the Islamic concept. As one of the Islamic scholar commented: Actually, all the 4 concepts or names that you have just mentioned to me ('halalan tayyiban' hotel, 'halal' hotel, 'Shariah-compliant' hotel, and 'Islamic friendly' hotel) is actually associated or interrelated to one and another. In Islam, the ultimate aim a Muslim is to achieve the level of 'halalan tayyiban' in any aspects of life. Whenever this to be successfully achieved, then all the concepts mentioned earlier is automatically come to the frame. Halal is actually permissible from Islamic perspectives and Tayyiban is actually all aspects that is associated with gaining Halal in done in a right manner through the Islamic perspective such as the question of what, where, who, and how which is associated with a Muslim life.
Hence, when something that we do is considered 'halalan tayyiban'; such as having meal or staying in a hotel, then it is also has fulfilled the concept of 'halal', 'Shari'ah compliant', and for sure be considered as 'Islamic friendly'. All this terms or concepts may be used differently or interchangeably in the hotel or other industry by the practitioners but from Islamic point of view, anything that we do must ultimately achieve or ensure that it is 'halalan tayyiban' so that we could become a servant that is faithful to our creator; that is no other than Allah the Almighty.
Therefore, it was suggested that the 'Islamic friendly', 'Shariah-compliant', and 'halal' is actually complemented each other and creating the whole 'halalan tayyiban' concept as shown in the figure below: It is revealed from Figure 2 that the suggestion to come-out with a system that we could gradually categorized or 'grading' the hotel involved in this Islamic hospitality industry should be explored and studied comprehensively. Both Islamic scholars accepted the idea of classifying the hotels based on 'how deep their involvement or implementation' of Islamic principles in their respective hotels. But, they opined that it must be studied and discussed thoroughly among all the stakeholders in the industry. This is important so that the prospect of having a structured and well- When asked about the implementation of Islamic principles in hotel to the hotel representative (practitioner), he stressed out that the most important aspect to be determined and explain clearly throughout the whole organization is the question of "what is the hotel's concept?" He feels that the top management has to set the concept that he/ she want to implement into the hotel as clear as possible from top to bottom to ensure the implementation of the hotel is successful. He describes his experience as follows:  (CEO or owner). Then, the aspiration must be 'channeled' through all members of the organization, without any exception. When all members in the organization fully understand what is the aspiration and know what role they will play for it to be successful, then the implementation could be done with effective and efficient.
In terms of what name to be used for a hotel that implementing the Islamic guidelines, I personally think that whatever name to be associated with the hotel should give a very good impression to the consumers either to Muslim or non-Muslim guests. 'Halal hotel' may suitable to be use as customers in this particular segment (Islamic tourism) eagerly searching for hotel that is implementing the Islamic concept.
Actually, the main issue that would stays afloat when the suggestion of establishing a standardized classification based on the hierarchy of 'halal hotel' (Figure 2)' is "How to achieve the 'halalan tayyiban' level?". The industry players should be getting the 'comprehensive' understanding of each level. Then they would realize that to achieve the 'halalan tayyiban' level is 'difficult' because it involved 'subjective' or 'holistic' part that can only be explained through the Islamic principles. Therefore, the question of "How to achieve the 'halalan tayyiban' level?" could only be answered through the integration of effort and commitment between stakeholders' involved in the Islamic tourism industry; especially from the government because they have the authority either to encourage or discourage any activities in the country; to ensure all aspects of 'life' is indeed halal. As one of the Islamic scholar noted:

'Halalan Tayyiban' is the ultimate aim of all Muslim. In order to achieve it, it's involve not only the tangible matter (things that we can see such as what are the substance of any particular products) but also the intangible (subjective or holistic matter) such as who made it, where it was plant, where the money to buy it in the first place came from?
Therefore, it requires all stakeholders' in the society system to simultaneously make the continuous effort to ensure that all things that matter or related to the products to be "Shariah-compliant'. Government is actually the party that play a major part in ensuring the system is 'haram-free' (haram the opposite of halal) Unfortunately, looking at the current situation, it would be quite difficult for this to be implemented comprehensively as the world economy system is being govern through the conventional system, not Islamic.

But in Islam, there is an Arabic proverb which says: "if you can't do everything, then you shouldn't leave everything". Meaning that as a Muslim, we should try as much as possible to implement the Islamic principles (Shariah) in all way of life. Hence, based on figure 2 for the 'Shariah-compliant' hotel hierarchy, as a practitioner, we should try to achieve the highest level as possible. This is because, as a Muslim, we believe that business is a mean for us to perform ibadah (good deeds). Therefore, by performing the business according to Islamic principles, we actually fulfilling our duties to the creator (Allah).
My personal view, in term of name to be use for hotel that wishes to implement Islamic guidelines (shariah), 'halal hotel' is favorable to me as the name 'halal' itself is simple and friendly. Therefore, I highly recommend the name of 'halal hotel' to be use in the Islamic tourism industry for any practitioners (hotel owners) intend to take part in this particular industry.
The conclusions could be drawn from both Islamic scholars and the hotel management perspectives on the concept or name to be used that best suited to the 'halal hotel' may be stated as: • All of them agreed that name could give an 'impact' but the most crucial thing is that how we could 'transform' it so that it would be emancipated through the whole stakeholders (especially hotel personnel and guests) and more importantly in line with the requirement of Islamic principles.
• To realize that performing business in Islam is actually performing ibadah (good deeds). So, the need to integrate the element of giving services or to serve the people (guest) of the hotel, beside on focusing to generate profit. Only then, hospitality in Islam could be achieved.
• They all agreed to purpose the categorization or a system to classifying hotel that wishes to implement Islamic principles to be based on Figure 2; according to their level of Islamic implementation level (the category and its hierarchy will be studied further on future research). Also, they agreed that hotels with aspirations to be implementing Islamic principles can be called as a 'halal hotel' which possesses unique characteristics that have consequences for their development, management and marketing; the three P's in service marketing that will be comprehensively discussed in this study.

Conceptualization of the 'Halal Hotel'
Marketing scholars and practitioners have long depended on the same basic elements for success. The elements of successful corporate marketing have traditionally boiled down to the familiar four P's: price, promotion, product, and placement (Kotler, 2003). But a service is an experience process at the point where purchasing and consuming happens simultaneously so that the service perishes quickly. Usually a service is doing action for someone or something. More often, it's intangible, while a product is tangible for we can touch it or own it indeed.
Traditional 4P's marketing is adapt to products marketing, but in service management something new are needed. Booms and Bitner advise three new P's to service marketing: people, physical evidence and process. Thus, in this study, we would conceptualize the Islamic guidelines' hotel according to the 3P's model introduced by Booms and Bitner (1992).

People
There are several ways in which people add value to an experience: first is training, personnel developed or educated to obtain a high quality of personal service; second is personal selling, a tough work and creative skill; and third is customer service, a team who provide expertise, technical support and some customer interface. Individual behaviors are seen as the interaction with the customer's physical environment, and interactions occurring between employee and customers, known as social interactions. As one of the Islamic scholar commented: Islamic teachings promote ibadah (good deeds) in whatever we do. Therefore, from the Islamic perspectives, the relationship among mankind must be treated fairly and justly. Islam also believe that whatever a Muslim do is associated with his deeds such as his/ her actions, and also verbal and non-verbal communications; which includes his/ her attire, the way his/ her communicate to others, body gestures, facial expressions and posture.

All thing that been mentioned earlier is important to a Muslim for their daily dealings especially if what they do are related with other people such as providing services (hotel industry). They must take care of their attire (cleanliness), the way they speak and also show their eagerness and sincerity in whatever they do because it is part of ibadah.
It is a common saying that he/she who wears the shoes knows where they pinch. The hotel representative which is the sample of the study, when given the opportunity to speak, provide clearer idea of how important a particular hotel that intends to implement the Islamic guidelines to develop and obtain 'a team' of staff that share same aspiration and ambition; which is they really accept and ultimately want to see the hotel itself practices all the Islamic guidelines.
He believes that first and foremost, the management of the hotel must arrange and implement programs and activities that could instill the Islamic spirit in the staffs' mind and soul. Only then, the hotel will successfully deliver the implementation of 'Islamic hotel'. He describes his experiences to form this particular group of workers as not easy in the beginning but it takes lots of courage and determination which finally will bear fruit:

Especially, when you want to introduce an 'Islamic' concept for your hotel, every members of the organization must really have the motivation and intention to really implement and particularly overcome any barriers for it to become reality. It really needs the aspiration to come from the top management and only then, the 'Islamic' concept to be implemented in the hotel could become a reality. It is a common thing when we want to implement something which is in line with our religion (Islamic practices), they'll be lots of hindrance to be overcome. One of the example is that we want all our staff to perform solat (prayer) with other members on duty (in Islam is called 'jemaah'
). This is to ensure everybody get the chance to know each members that work in the hotel and also to generate the spirit of togetherness among them.
Another example is the management requires all staff to attend Al-Quran classes that being arranged by the management. Both programs are mandatory to all staffs from the top management to the bottom; nobody excluded whether he/ she a Managing Director or a tea lady. The management believes that by arranging this kind of 'spiritual' program would make the bond between staff are as close as possible so that we all could work in a very conducive and harmony environment.
During the first six month of the implementation, there are resistances from the staff; such as they don't want to join the program or they feel discomfort because a lot of them not even know how to perform prayer or recite the Quran. As the proverb: walk the talk says that the example that been set by the top management has made all staff become truly 'touched' by the determination of top management who also ensures their involvement with all the organization programs. This has led to high motivation among staff and the 'togetherness' has become increasingly high. This is a proven hypothesis because whenever the management require them to work extra, they willing to perform it as they feel that the management is with them altogether. Table 1 presents the main dimension on how to conceptualize the people in a hotel that implementing Islamic guidelines. As people representing the whole organization through their verbal and non-verbal communication, their overall 'stimuli' will eventually evoked consumer responses that is so crucial in the service industry that emphasize on consumer responses through consumer interface.

.
Staff accept the 'Islamic guidelines' concept (they enjoy their work).

.
Staff needs to follow the Islamic dress code (aurat).

.
Always give 'salam' to other staff and also hotel's guest.

.
Staff always smiles all the time.

.
Staff response to complaint by hotel's guest instantaneously.

.
Staff always very helpful among each other and especially towards hotel's guest.

.
Staff always performs prayer all the time and in jemaah (together). They also invite Muslim guest to also perform prayer together.

.
Staff also must be as informative as possible (dakwah).

.
Always speaks politely to each other and especially towards hotel's guest. 1 0.
Staff also must dress clean, looks healthy and energetic.

Process
In service business, process is an element that appreciates customer experiencing as an organizational offering. It's viewed as something that customer participates in at different point. Again we can see the importance of interaction with customers. It requires a proper encounter, a proper communication, a proper action and a proper resolution, in which process has a progression of inputs, throughputs and outputs, where service marketing value is added. Majority of them initiate their own Research & Development (R&D) to either towards their products attributes or process.
From the perspective of Islam, any process must not be associated or clear from any elements of haram (anything that is prohibited by Allah); either in the form of tangible (substances) or intangible (action). As described by one of the Islamic scholars as follows: From the Islamic point of view, any process must be free from haram elements and any mean (process) should be done according to Islamic guidelines either to produce goods or to provide services. A number of defining characteristics such as halal food and no alcohol are straightforward, but questions of finance and staff demographics are less easily answered. Therefore, these issues must be tackled with hikmah (intelligence and smooth). We don't want these issues to become a hindrance for Muslim to involve in the hospitality industry.
Eventually, both Islamic scholars and the representative of the hotel agreed that the implementation of any process must be done 'delicately' in order to avoid any misunderstanding and uncomfortness. As Islamic users' growth tremendously every year, the 'image' of Islam especially from the eyes of non-Muslim also decreases because of what is happening around the world today; especially since the September 11 tragedy.
Therefore, it is our responsibilities as a Muslim to rectify the image of Islam through the perspectives of non-Muslim. The Islamic scholars also believe that it is actually the Muslims 'hand' itself that deteriorate the image of Islam. Hence, all Muslim must realize the true virtue of Islam and work together to promote and ultimately win back the true and holy image of Islam.
From Table 2, we could see the purposed conceptualization of process that could be implemented by an Islamic hotel. We also should bear in mind that any process that we would like to introduce or implement not just merely reflect any concept that would like to purpose; in this case Islamic hotel, but more importantly the process itself must cater the ultimate aim of any process that is to maximize productivity through efficiency.
I recalled the hotel representative which is the sample of the study, when given the opportunity to explain of how the hotel implement the kind of process implemented described as follows: In the service industry; especially hotel industry which is provide services to customers, the main objectives is we must provide the upmost services which is as hospitable and comfort as possible. Hence, always bear in mind that the proverbs: "customers' is always right" is definitely something that people in the hotel or service industry may have to live with.
Therefore, when we want to introduce or implement any process or procedures, it must create the sense of hospitable and does not burdensome towards the customers or hotel's guests. It is actually easier said than done because in service industry, the perception of customers is everything and it is harder to gauge customers' perception because the 'subjective' nature of the service itself.

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All funds to manage the hotel must be approved by Shari'ah.

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The restaurants (F&B) must get the halal certification.

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All recreational facilities (gym, swimming pool, etc) for the hotel's guest must be separated between men and women.

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The hotel's guest also wearing the 'appropriate' attire at public. He also recalled that any process shouldn't be seen as a burden for hotel's guests as it will discourage people to embrace in hotel implementing Islamic principles or 'halal hotel': There is suggestions that before any hotel guest that come in pair or man and woman, they must provide with prove that they are a married couple before they intend to check-in. Also, gender segregation and the allocation of floors to men, women and families was also been suggested.
My personal view is all the steps that been suggested earlier is 'nonsense' because it will discourage the consumers to stay in the 'Shariah-compliant' hotel. It could be seen as burdensome and the hotel guest will eventually find another hotel to stay. Furthermore, these considerations (e.g: segregation floors according to gender) could also lead to extra costs to the management and have it implications for operations as well as development and financing. This will not only discourage the consumers to stay in the 'Shariah-compliant' hotel, but also the hotel owners themselves will find it a burdensome to get involve into the Islamic hospitality industry.
Actually, from my own experience, there are other means on how to discourage people (Muslim) from performing or engaging into any sins such as by providing the 'Islamic environment' into the hotel. This is because when the environment of the hotel itself is accordance to the Islamic values (such as the Quran writing on the wall and nasyid as the music background), it will automatically set a 'spiritual filter' in any human heart (especially Muslim) and eventually will dis-courage them from performing any sins (this will be discussed in the next part; physical evidence).

Physical Evidence
The intangibility of service brings the difficulties of unclear, untouchable, and even doubtful sometimes. Strictly speaking there are no physical attributes in service, so a consumer often relies on those tangible evidences for confidence. Here we consider football match, which is typically packed full of physical evidence. A ticket often has the logo of home team, and plays in a same team are wearing uniforms. The stadium is impressive and has an electrifying atmosphere. Audience can have a comfortable seat and be close to store. All that an audience needs to do is to enjoy the game and to shout encouragement.
Environmental psychologists have argued that people respond to their environment holistically, rather than to individual stimuli. Therefore, the reaction to the overall environment is more than a sum of its individual stimuli (Bell et al., 1978;Holahan, 1982;Ittleson et al., 1974). In line with this research, Bitner (1992) developed a conceptual framework of the servicescape which describes the mix of internal responses that are influenced by environmental factors, and the external behaviours of employees and customers.
Bitner maintained that "the dimensions of the physical surroundings include all of the objective physical factors that can be controlled by the firm to enhance (or constrain) employee and customer actions" (Bitner, 1992, p. 65). Bitner also divided the dimensions of the physical surroundings into three different categories: i) Ambient conditions Ambient conditions have been studied extensively. Similar to Bitner, several other studies (Wakefield and Blodgett, 1996) have argued that a servicescape is not purely the actual building, but includes issues such as temperature, music, colour and other factors which contribute to the ambience. There has been a plethora of studies examining the effects of ambience on perception and responses to a particular environment (Becker, 1981;Wineman, 1982;Darley and Gilbert, 1985;Sundstrom and Sundstrom, 1986;Baker, 1987;Russel and Snodgrass, 1987;Baker et al., 1988). Further research has investigated further aspects of the servicescape, such as colour and light (Bellizi et al., 1983;Crowley, 1993;Areni and Kim, 1993) or background music (Millman, 1982(Millman, , 1986Holbrook and Schlindler 1989;Areni and Kim, 1993;Capella, 1994, 1996;Hui et al., 1997;Yalch and Spangenberg, 2000).

ii) Spatial layout and functionality
There has also been a strand of research into the effects of spatial layout and functionality. Some authors have linked the general holistic environment and affect (Babin and Darden, 1996;Donovan and Rossiter, 1982;Wakefield and Baker, 1998). This implies that poor store design will incur psychological costs for the consumer and thus reduce the pleasure gained from the shopping experience, which will in turn lead to the deterioration of customers' moods (Mehrabian and Russell, 1974;Spies et al., 1997). However, much of the literature in this field concentrates on the layout and the functionality from the employee's point of view (Wineman, 1982(Wineman, , 1986Davis, 1984).
iii) Signs, symbols and artefacts.
The third element of the servicescape Bitner (1992) recognised is signs, symbols and artefacts. These can be explicit or implicit signals, which give clues to certain elements of the service (Becker, 1977(Becker, , 1981Wineman, 1982;Davis, 1984;Wener, 1985). Explicit signals are signs that are displayed either on the exterior or interior of the service environment. These can include signs that act as labels (such as company name), signs that serve a directional purpose (e.g. entrance), signs that indicate behaviors that must be followed (e.g. no under 18s allowed) and signs that represent the image of the company. Implicit signs are less obvious but common, e.g. if a person has a large office, then they are seen as more important. An implicit sign could also be an extravagant building or surroundings (Palmer, 2005). The hotel representative which is the sample of the study, provide clearer ideas of what concept or name to be used that best suited with hotel that implementing the Islamic guidelines, especially at the implementation stage. He describes his experiences in managing the hotel as follows: Especially, when you want to introduce an 'Islamic' concept for your hotel, every members of the organization must really have the motivation and intention to really implement and particularly overcome any barriers for it to become reality. Place for prayer (surau).

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Prayer's kit in every room.

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Proper pipe (water) for wudu' in the toilet.

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Hotel environment is strictly hygiene (according to Islam).

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Equipment in the hotel (furniture, carpets, etc) is reflecting the Islamic arts.

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All written forms in the hotel should be crafted using Islamic arts of writing (khat).

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Combination of colors used in the hotel is accordance to Islamic value (not too extreme and give peace toward one's psychology and mind). 1 0.
The structure (layout, arrangement, and design) of the hotel also reflecting the Islamic arts and architecture. Ultimately, trough the combination of the conceptualizations in Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3 will the dimensionality of the 'halal hotel' could be 'tangibalized'. The study has proposed all the dimensionality that could appear to be the characteristics of how a hotel that wishes to portray or intend to embark in the Islamic tourism industry as a hotel that implementing the Islamic principles; proposed in this study as a 'halal hotel'.

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS
In sum, the idea of creating a halal or Islamic hotel could be seen as a perfect platform for us to promote and rectify the true Islamic image to all especially non-Muslim. As we all know, halal or Islamic identification is seen as a 'passport' for the industry's players to expand and cater the so-called untapped markets or as proposed in this study as 'halal hotel'. The conceptualizations that been proposed in the study (Table 1, Table 2 and Table 3) also could be used as a references or guidelines for the practitioners that intend to ventures into operating a 'halal hotel'.
Also, the industry's players should sit together and come-out with a system that can be used to classify hotel that wishes to implement Islamic principles; just as the use of halal certification, logo and identification in the food and beverages industry as a way to inform and to reassure their target consumers that their products are halal and in accordance with Islamic principles (shariah). This is important because as the consumers become more religious or halal-conscious, they will be looking for products that not only satisfy their needs but also give them "peace of mind." It's however, essential to realize that the service values alone do not determine what kind of service a customer looks for or whom they want to get from. Many service suppliers can usually produce an acceptable solution with adequate support to satisfy customers. In addition, customers also have wishes in relation to how they want service suppliers to treat them, say, a proper expressive performance. And it's related to the value system of customer, which determines what kinds of services are considered acceptable and what is out of question. Therefore, the conceptualization of people, process and physical evidence in this study could be used as the dimensions to achieve what is called as the 'halal hotel'.
Furthermore, the government also plays a pivotal role in helping these hoteliers to promote or wishes to 'introduce' their hotels' as a 'halal hotel' to their respective prospects either domestically or internationally. Applying the specific blend of advertising, sales promotion, public relations, personal selling, and direct marketing tools that they uses to persuasively communicate customer value and build customer relationships are important for any companies to communicate its products effectively and efficiently. Also, building an 'Islamic' environment in the country could foster the industry even towards better heights.
Hence, the industry's players (hospitality and tourism managers) should work handin-hand with their respective government in taking enormous prospects of the 'Islamic tourism' industry. They should take steps to sit together and come-out with a 'standardize' guidelines for all practitioners to look for if they were to open and operate the 'halal hotel'. The standard such as halal certification for food and beverages or the 'Quality Management System from Islamic Perspectives Certification Scheme' (MS 1900) should also be developed; maybe 'halal hotel' standard that can be a tools that being established and widely implemented to the entire world. Also, the 'halal hotel' practitioners also should improve and enhance travelers' experiences; as the customers in the 21 st century are the customers that not only emphasize on commodity, but also the experience.
Also, it is important to realize that the level of services that should be offered to the hotel guests of any hotel especially 'Shariah-compliant' hotel should began when the prospective hotels' guests first come across to the hotel offerings; maybe through the hotel's websites or from any sources that deems necessary. As shown in Figure 4, the customers have made the first interaction with the hotel without maybe come to the hotel (during the reservation process); through the hotel's website and subsequently calling for any inquiries and to make reservation.