Muslim Women Travellers’ Constraints: A Critical Review

While studies and reviews on gender, women and travel constraints have been conducted, the specific travel constraints pertaining to Muslim women travellers need further analysis and investigation. This review adds to the existing body of knowledge not only by presenting an overview of the existing literature on Muslim women travellers’ constraints, but also by critically assessing it with the intent to highlight areas for future focus. Overall, this critical review’s contributions are threefold. First, by focusing on a relatively unknown segment of the market (Asian Muslim women), it adds a specific perspective to the existing body of knowledge on constraints to leisure and travel in general, and women’s constraints to leisure and travel in particular. Second, as the specific constraints are discussed in relation to the different stages of the tourism experience – from the travel decision making process to the post-holiday experience – this chapter highlights the constraints faced by Muslim women not only when they are on holiday but also when they return home. This is particularly important as tourism scholars often overlook women’s psychological and practical barriers in the post-holiday experience. Third, this work offers scholars a more in-depth understanding of the diversity of femininities constituting the group ‘Muslim women’ as it presents different typologies of Muslim women and the different socio-cultural, micro and macro contexts shaping their travel perceptions and constraints. By doing so, it attempts to overcome binary concepts related to gender (e.g. Muslim-non Muslim women) by offering a more nuanced perspective on gendered and religious identities.