Islamic Tourism and Sustainable Development: From Utopia to Reality

Tourism is a key player in development, and an valuable factor of solidarity and dynamism in international exchanges. It is a flourishing sector, and one of the largest industries in the world; in many regions, it is the only major source of investment and employment. It is also one of the main vehicles for the construction and promotion of the image of a country as a whole. In this perspective, it is pertinent to ask what the vision of Islam is and how do the proposed answers link with tourism, development and nature conservation. This Islamic kind of tourism which is aimed at families, which maintains the customs and traditions of Islam, has begun to establish itself firmly on the world stage, although it still remains limited. It seeks to maintain an ‘ideal’ tourism that looks for entertainment around nature and complex modern infrastructures, without violating the customs and traditions of Islamic ‘Shariah’ that many families remain attached to. To what extent is this type of tourism consistent with sustainable development? And more importantly, what is the vision of Islam regarding tourism? Through this work, we will attempt to answer these questions and related issues. We cannot pretend that this work is the ideal proof of the close relationship between Islamic tourism and sustainable development. But this a theoretical contribution to understand this type of tourism, and a demonstration of how it might be manifest in a practical and physical form