Muslim-Friendly Tourism as Sustainable Tourism: A Multidimensional Evaluation Framework for Tourists and Destinations

Muslim-Friendly Tourism (MFT) is increasingly growing in the global tourism industry. Muslim Travellers (MT) have specific cultural practices, faith traditions and sensitivities to be understood and respected, to create an inclusive environment. Integrating Muslim practices into tourism means the enhancement of the experience of Muslim travellers, also contributing to a broader form of sustainable tourism, promoting cultural diversity, environmental respect and social inclusion, as well as new opportunities for local development. This integration implies an effort both by the destinations, to understand and respect Muslim culture and by MT, to adopt responsible and sustainable behaviour towards the host communities. In this framework, the implementation of the circular economy model in the tourism sector can represent a strategy to successfully implement MFT sustainably and thus consider its impacts in a multidimensional perspective (i.e. its contribution to the reduction of environmental impacts, to the enhancement of social inclusion and intercultural promotion, to conservation and respect of tangible and intangible values). This research proposes two evaluation frameworks to orient MFT towards the achievement of SDGs from a human-centred perspective. The evaluation frameworks address two stakeholder groups: the Muslim Travellers (MT) and the Tourist Facilities and Services (TFS). They consist of two main matrices: the Muslim Travellers Matrix (MTM), to assess the circularity of the MT behaviours and to orient them in a more sustainable perspective, and the Tourist Facilities and Services Matrix (TFSM), to assess the circularity of the tourist Facilities and Services, in terms of cultural inclusiveness, i.e. the capacity to meet the needs of MT. The findings highlight the potential of MFT in contributing to the achievement of SDGs, both from the demand side (MT) and from the offer side (TFS). These evaluation frameworks represent a tool to assess and monitor the impact of MFT and also support in decision-making to orient choices in development strategies.