Il turismo halal: una nicchia di mercato che può crescere anche in Italia

In the last few years, the evolution of international tourism demand shows an increasing flow of Muslim travellers. According to UNWTO data, in 2014 Muslims travelling around the world are about 10% of the overall tourists. The medium-term growth forecasts suggest the importance of this segment. The forecast for 2020 shows that Muslim tourists will increase by an annual average of 4.8% compared with 3.8% of the whole flows. Therefore, it is certainly a priority to learn about the attitudes of Muslims who practice or intend to practice leisure activities without giving up the rules of Islam, making lawful or halal activities. The purpose of this paper is to appreciate if and how Italy is trying to meet the needs of halal tourists doing an “informal” census of tourist supply (hotel, B&B, etc.) that offers at least Muslim friendly services. At the same time, we try to outline the main characteristics of the potential customers.