Building a Sustainable Halal Tourism Ecosystem through Institutional Support and Digital Transformation: The Mediating Role of Destination Trust in Aceh, Indonesia

Abstract

Sustainable halal tourism requires more than religious compliance, it depends on institutional capacity, technological transformation, stakeholder coordination, and tourists confidence in destination management. However, existing halal tourism research has largely examined destination attributes, tourist trust, or sustainability related factors separately, leaving limited empirical evidence on how institutional and technological conditions jointly contribute to a sustainable halal tourism ecosystem through destination trust. This study develops and tests an integrated model in which Government Support and Digital Transformation are proposed as antecedents of the Sustainable Halal Tourism Ecosystem, with Destination Trust as a mediating mechanism. A quantitative research design was employed using a survey of 300 Muslim tourists who had visited halal tourism destinations in Aceh, Indonesia. Data were collected through structured questionnaires and analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics through descriptive analysis, multiple linear regression, and mediation analysis with the PROCESS Macro. The findings indicate that government support, digital transformation, and destination trust each have positive and significant effects on the sustainable halal tourism ecosystem. Furthermore, destination trust significantly mediates the relationships between government support, digital transformation, and ecosystem sustainability. These findings highlight that sustainable halal tourism development requires not only supportive government policies and digital innovation but also the establishment of tourists' trust in destination management and halal compliance. The study provides practical implications for policymakers and tourism stakeholders in developing integrated strategies to strengthen the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of halal tourism destinations.