This book focuses on women in tourism in Muslim countries, specifically where a woman can be seen as a tourism consumer, or a woman producing tourism. This book discusses the role of women in the Muslim world and founds that socio-culturally Islam has a greater impact on women than men. The process of identity construction and the religious values of women have also been extensively researched. But little is known about the role of Muslim women in the tourism industry and this book addresses these themes in the Asian context. This book explores these ideas as defined key categories; Muslim women from Asia travelling to a non-Muslim country, non-Muslim women travelling to Asian Muslim countries, and Women working in the tourism field in Muslim countries.

This book highlights Asian countries as holding a complex mixture of cultures and identities. As Muslim communities are central in many Asian countries the tourism experience is different mainly because of cultural norms and religion. Ultimately, this book examines whether and how these complexities enrich both women and tourism industry within Asian context.

Nataša Slak Valek, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the College of Business at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. She has teaching experiences from Asia (Taiwan) and Europe (Slovenia), and practical experiences working for 10 years at the Slovenian Tourism Board.

Hamed Almuhrzi, PhD is an Assistant Professor, at College of Arts and Social Sciences, Sultan Qaboos University, Sultanate of Oman. His research interests focus on visitors’ behaviour and experience, heritage tourism, and Arab/Muslim tourism. Prior to his academic career, Hamed worked as a freelance tour-guide for more than five years.