Does halal destination designation matter on domestic tourist trips? Evidence from Indonesian provinces

Purpose In Indonesia, where most of the population is Muslim, the designation of halal tourism destinations is expected to shape domestic tourism patterns. Rather than assessing halal service features directly, this study aims to examine whether policy-level recognition as a halal destination is associated with increased domestic tourist trips. Design/methodology/approach Using panel data from 34 Indonesian provinces spanning 2016–2024, the study applies a difference-in-differences (DID) framework with province and year fixed effects. The model controls the impact of COVID-19, population size and per capita income. As a robustness check, the analysis also compares pre- and post-COVID periods and includes OLS and random effects estimations. Findings The results show that halal-designated provinces recorded significantly higher domestic tourist trips, particularly before the pandemic, indicating that policy-level branding can effectively influence domestic travel. During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, the incremental effect of halal designation on overall domestic tourist trips did not significantly change, suggesting that its relative advantage remained stable over time. Research limitations/implications While the DID design provides meaningful comparisons, it is constrained by the absence of pre-2016 data, which limits the ability to fully establish parallel trends. Originality/value This study contributes to the halal tourism literature by shifting the analytical focus from international markets toward domestic mobility and the branding effects of policy recognition in a Muslim-majority context.