The impact of User-Generated Content and religiosity on tourist expectations and visit decisions in Muslim-friendly tourism

Type of the article: Research ArticleAbstractThe rapid growth of Muslim-friendly tourism has intensified competition among halal destinations, making effective digital communication and trust-building mechanisms increasingly important. User-Generated Content (UGC) and religiosity are considered important factors influencing Muslim tourists’ decision-making processes; however, empirical evidence on their combined effects remains limited. This study aims to examine the influence of UGC on travel decisions to Muslim-friendly tourism destinations, with tourists’ expectations as a mediating variable and religiosity as a moderating variable. This study employed a quantitative approach, utilizing primary data collected in between June and August 2025 through structured questionnaires administered to 400 Muslim tourists visiting Muslim-friendly destinations in East Java, Indonesia. The data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares–Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to test direct, mediation, and moderation relationships. The results indicate that UGC has a positive and significant influence on tourists’ expectations and visit decisions. Tourist expectations also showed a significant positive influence on visit decisions and acted as a partial mediator in the relationship between UGC and visit decisions, confirming its central role in shaping travel behavior. Conversely, religiosity was found not to strengthen the relationship between tourist expectations and visit decisions, suggesting that highly religious tourists rely less on experiential expectations when making travel choices. These findings imply that halal destination managers should prioritize credible and emotionally engaging UGC strategies while considering varying levels of tourist religiosity. This study provides new empirical evidence by highlighting the moderating role of religiosity in Muslim-friendly tourism decision-making.AcknowledgmentsThe authors would like to express their sincere gratitude to all parties who have supported this research, notably the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme funded by the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology; Universitas Brawijaya and Technology and the Centre for Higher Education Funding and Assessment (PPAPT) of the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, and Technology and the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education Agency (LPDP).