INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL MODEL FOR MUSLIM-FRIENDLY TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY SERVICES: QUALITATIVE PERSPECTIVE

The current study focuses on Muslim Friendly Tourism and Hospitality (MFTH) services, as these rising services offer new and exciting opportunities for recovering and enhancing economic growth in the tourism industry. Intellectual capital is a firm's resource that has been proven to assist in creating a competitive advantage. Thus, strategically managing intangible assets, such as intellectual capital, is vital to gain a competitive edge. The study's main objective is to explore the indicators of intellectual capital that the MFTH service providers should possess to ensure the firm's sustainability. In addition, a new intellectual capital model, which comprises human capital, structural capital, relational capital, and innovation capital, suitable for MFTH service providers is proposed. A qualitative approach was applied through face-to-face interviews to obtain an in-depth perspective of intellectual capital in MFTH services with the tourism authorities and the academics.