JEDDAH, 31 March 2007 — The one-month postponement of the Umrah season and a delay in the arrival of Egyptian pilgrims are expected to cost the Umrah business sectors in Makkah and Madinah up to SR13 billion.
Saad Al-Qurashi, director of the Haj and Umrah Committee at the Council of Saudi Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the one-month delay is causing the Umrah sector losses worth SR3 billion and that an additional decision taken by the Egyptian Tourist Chamber to temporarily stop pilgrims from leaving Egypt is costing the sector SR10 billion.
The Egyptian Tourist Chamber has recommended pilgrims be prevented from leaving the country until an agreement is reached with the Saudi Haj Ministry over fees. An Egyptian court has subsequently approved this recommendation.
Sources at the Egyptian chamber said that tourist companies that do not follow the new orders and send pilgrims to Saudi Arabia would have their licenses revoked.
The Egyptian chamber is demanding that the Saudi Haj Ministry reduce the service fee for each Umrah pilgrim from SR650 to SR400. They would also like the Saudi authorities to reconsider the SR200,000 bank guarantee that the Umrah companies have to produce to obtain permits to organize Umrah trips to the Kingdom.
The Egyptian chamber is also calling for the cancellation of the requirement that tourist offices to be members of the International Air Travel Association (IATA).
Of 750 Umrah companies operating in Egypt, only 180 have IATA membership.
The Saudi authorities have passed a new rule saying that if three percent of pilgrims that come for Umrah through a single company overstay, then the company’s license would be cancelled.
Egyptian travel operators have requested an increase in the percentage of overstayers from three percent to five percent.
A source at the Haj Ministry said that the new regulations were applied to all countries and that the ministry’s aim was to uphold the rights of the pilgrims, upgrade the services provided to them and minimize the number of overstayers.
The official also expressed surprise at the Egyptian chamber’s stance on the issue and said that the SR650 fee has been in place for the past three years.
