sustainability Concept Paper Coronavirus and Halal Tourism and Hospitality Industry: Is It a Journey to the Unknown? Hatem El-Gohary College of Business & Economics, Qatar University, Doha 2713, Qatar;
[email protected] Received: 7 October 2020; Accepted: 4 November 2020; Published: 7 November 2020 Abstract: Coronavirus (COVID-19) gained and will continue to gain a lot of global attention over the coming months (and maybe the coming few years). Since its outbreak in Wuhan (China), it has turned into one of the major challenges affecting the whole world. In a comparatively short time, the virus outbreak turned into a pandemic that led to massive negative impacts not only on people health and well-being, but also on the global economy, travel industry, pharmaceutical industry, tourism industry, and many other industries. This research paper aims to investigate the different effects of coronavirus on the global Halal tourism and Halal hospitality industry and whether the coronavirus pandemic is the end of Halal tourism and hospitality as we know it or not. The paper offers an in-depth theoretical examination of the different aspect of the pandemic on Halal tourism and hospitality industry and provides guidance on how to address these different aspects. The current paper is one of very few research papers addressing coronavirus on the tourism and hospitality industry. Keywords: coronavirus; COVID-19; Halal hospitality; Halal tourism; tourism industry; Muslim travellers; KSA; Egypt; Middle East 1. Introduction Unlike other religions, Islam encourages travel and inspires Muslims to travel to every part of earth to be educated, to seek a better life, to perform Islamic religious rituals such as Hajj or Umrah, to seek a cure from illness, tourism and enjoyment, as well as many other reasons.