Value Chain Optimization and Islamic Banking Access: A stakeholder Integration Approach in Emerging Markets

This study investigates how value chain optimization affects halal tourism integration and Islamic bank financing in Aceh, Indonesia, ‎exploring what represents an untapped bridge between Islamic finance and halal tourism. Using a quantitative explanatory design, we collected ‎data from 210 respondents across halal tourism businesses and Islamic financial institutions. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) via ‎AMOS software tested hypothesized relationships, with bootstrap analysis for mediation testing. Our findings show stakeholder integration ‎acts as a crucial intermediary in halal tourism development, mediating 35.82% of the total effect between value chain optimization and Islamic-‎ic bank financing. Unlike traditional tourism frameworks, operational excellence alone cannot secure financial accessibility in halal tourism; ‎successful financing demands systematic stakeholder collaboration. Results indicate that religiously-oriented tourism contexts generate ‎stronger stakeholder interdependencies than conventional tourism, with integration effects significantly outweighing direct operational ‎impacts on financing outcomes. This work offers the first quantitative evidence of mediation mechanisms connecting value chain optimization, ‎stakeholder integration, and Islamic bank financing in halal tourism, bridging a previously unexplored gap between Islamic finance and halal ‎tourism sectors‎.