The social impact of halal tourism policy in South Korea: apart from the economic sector.

For the last decade, South Korea government has diversified its tourism industry by developing halal tourism, particularly in Seoul, despite its majority populations are non-Muslim. This research sees that the halal tourism policy initiated by the South Korean government has a main target to increase the economy, especially from foreign Muslim tourists. In fact, in addition to achieving these targets, there are other impacts of this policy, namely social impacts. Using qualitative method where data were obtained from interviews and literature study, This article found that the social impact of this halal tourism policy is not only limited to cultural exchange and general social interaction between local communities and Muslim tourists, but there is a deeper interest in Islam marked by the growth of the Muslim population there. The implications of this study extend to social integration, demographic change, and cultural adaptation, all of which are critical to effectively managing the impact of halal tourism in South Korea. This article contributes that a tourism policy can affect social dynamics, in this case especially the growth of the Muslim population in South Korea as a consequence of these policies, which is a relatively under-explored area in tourism research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]