JEDDAH, 12 July — There is all-round jubilation among members of the large expatriate community and the travel industry about the new Umrah regulations as well as the increased freedom of movement in the Kingdom.
The travel industry is now looking forward to an increased flow of traffic into the Kingdom. Their contention is that these developments will surely boost the travel trade as they will encourage both pilgrims and vacationers to visit various tourist attractions in the country.
A number of expatriates interviewed said they had “absolutely no problem” in going from one part of the Kingdom to another. “I was a bit worried when I chose to go to the Eastern Province from Jeddah without a travel permit. But I was not stopped at any point and no questions were asked at the airports either in Jeddah or Dammam,” Abdul Aziz Hefni, an Egyptian sales executive, said.
A new trend among local travel agents is to enter into tie-ups with their counterparts in different countries to ensure a smooth and regular flow of pilgrims. “These tie-ups are between travel agents on the one hand and between the travel trade and the hospitality industry on the other,” an executive of a leading travel agency said. Hotel executives confirmed that the industry would benefit a great deal, especially during non-peak seasons.
He added that such tie-ups would help in realizing the full potential of the Umrah market, thus adding the necessary dynamism, energy and consumer focus that the travel business “truly deserves and needs.”
Kanoo Travel, claimed to be the largest travel management company in the Middle East, appointed VAL Enterprises Ltd., a leading travel and tourism services organization as its business partner in Pakistan for Umrah, visit and Haj services, under the new Saudi policy. The new regulations require all Umrah performers to be sponsored by service operators in the Kingdom.
Under the agreement, the Pakistani establishment will exclusively represent Kanoo Umrah Services and sell their services to travelers and travel agents in Pakistan.
Nabeel K. Kanoo, executive general manager of Kanoo Holidays and Kanoo Umrah Services, who signed the agreement, said such arrangements would ultimately result in customized Umrah and Ziarat packages making them competitively priced and highly qualitative.
“The objective is to provide pilgrims the peace of mind to concentrate on their noble duties by seeing to their needs from arrival to departure .... Kanoo Umrah Services, a division of Kanoo Travel, has been created to cater exclusively to the needs of pilgrims from all over the world. Today, it is the only Umrah and Haj operator in the Middle East accredited with ISO 9002 by providing the highest standards of service all year round,” Kanoo added.
American Express Travel Services (AETS) in the Kingdom also signed an exclusive agreement with American Express Travel Services in Pakistan. “We’ve a strong network of more than 1,700 offices in 130 countries around the world,” S. Nihal, country manager, AETS, said, adding: “This is not only for Umrah traffic but also for inbound tourism.”
Like AETS, other leading travel agents have started setting up specialized departments for inbound tourism and Umrah.
