Pilot Validation of Muslim-Friendly Hospitality and Tourism Experience Measures for Destination Loyalty

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the Muslim-friendly hospitality (MFH) industry through widespread lockdowns and reduced travel demand, posing substantial challenges to its sustainability. Despite these setbacks, the Muslim travel market continues to grow, creating increasing demand for destinations that provide Shariah-compliant facilities and services. Nevertheless, service quality gaps remain, with many Muslim-friendly accommodations underperforming compared to conventional hotels. This underscores the importance of identifying the factors that shape a positive Muslim-friendly destination image, as it plays a crucial role in enhancing tourist satisfaction and fostering sustainable tourism development in Malaysia. This study focuses on ensuring the methodological rigor of the research instrument through a systematic process of pretesting and pilot testing. Since the survey instrument was adapted from established studies, expert reviews and cognitive interviews were conducted to evaluate its content validity and ensure its suitability within the Malaysian geographical, linguistic, and cultural context. Feedback obtained during the pretesting stage facilitated the refinement of item wording, clarity, relevance, and overall usability. Subsequently, a pilot study involving 64 local Muslim tourists was conducted to assess the instrument's reliability and validity. The findings demonstrated strong internal consistency across all constructs, confirming that the instrument is both reliable and appropriate for investigating Muslim-friendly tourism in the Malaysian context.