JEDDAH, 13 July 2003 — Over 200 Saudi companies specializing in Umrah tourism met yesterday afternoon at the Jeddah Camber of Commerce and Industry to hear the details of a Saudi-Egyptian Umrah agreement that will facilitate the entry of an additional 700,000 Egyptian Umrah pilgrims into the Kingdom every year.
According to Prince Faisal ibn Abdullah Al-Faisal, deputy chairman of the National Committee for Haj and Umrah Tourism, the extra Umrah pilgrims could inject more that SR500 million into the Western Region, particularly Makkah, Madinah and Jeddah.
“Egyptian Umrah pilgrims make up a third of all Umrah visitors,” he explained.
“We are expecting around half a million Egyptian Umrah pilgrims this year alone,” Prince Faisal added.
The question of illegal overstayers was also raised, as was the issue of Egyptian pilgrims who end up sleeping rough because they have not arranged accommodation or have been duped by Umrah companies.
Prince Faisal stated that the vagrancy rate is 5,000 pilgrims at the most — less then one percent of total pilgrims who come every year. Regarding illegal overstayers, the figure is disputed: Passport and immigration official estimate it to be 14 percent of total Umrah pilgrims, while the National Committee for Haj and Umrah Tourism put it at 12 percent, which has little impact on the local economy.
