JEDDAH, 27 June — Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed stated yesterday that the new Umrah system, which was introduced last month, was flexible. “Positive changes to the system are possible during the first three years of its implementation,” he said.
The governor’s statement comes amid calls by foreign travel agents for annulling an SR100,000 bank guarantee they were asked to produce under the new system. The guarantee issue had prompted many foreign travel agents to stop Umrah services.
Umrah service companies in the Kingdom incurred heavy losses last month due to a low turnout of pilgrims from abroad. Saudi firms were expecting to earn about a total of SR7.5 billion from estimated three million pilgrims this year. The Haj Ministry had licensed 250 local companies to provide Umrah service.
The ministry has launched a campaign to enlighten people about the new system in Islamic countries. The move comes after a number of travel and tourism firms in these countries refused to sign agreements with their Saudi counterparts.
An informed source at the Haj Ministry told Arab News that its officials would visit Indonesia, Turkey and Egypt in the next few weeks to meet with travel agents there. He said the recent visit of Haj officials to Iran was aimed at explaining the new system.
“Many have welcomed the new Umrah system, though there were some reservations as well. We are studying them carefully. These issues can be discussed with the Saudi Umrah firms,” the source said.
Egyptian Consul General in Jeddah, Muhammad Bahauddin, welcomed the ministry’s move and said it would increase bilateral cooperation. He said the recent meeting between Saudi and Egyptian firms in Jeddah was useful in settling many issues.
Bahaduddin, however, expected Umrah traffic from his country to decline 35 percent in the coming years due to a rise in service charges. Egypt has been sending about 600,000 Umrah pilgrims every year.
The first batch of Egyptian Umrah pilgrims this season arrived in Madinah on Sunday. Hasan ibn Hamid Al-Bakri, director of the ministry’s office in Madinah, said more Egyptians would come to perform Umrah under the new system. Informed sources said some 300 Egyptian companies were expected to sign deals with their Saudi counterparts soon.
Saad Al-Qurashi, chairman of the Umrah committee at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told Arab News that representatives of Saudi Umrah companies had started visiting Arab and Islamic countries to sign contracts with travel agents there. A number of travel and tourism companies in Indonesia and Turkey have already signed deals with Saudi firms in this respect.
A meeting of Saudi Umrah companies in Jeddah last week urged the authorities to review the condition of bank guarantee as the measure had virtually frozen Umrah travel from Pakistan, Morocco and Algeria.
Local businessmen fear that they would continue to suffer huge losses if the foreign companies insist on scuttling the guarantee requirement before resuming operations.
