MADINAH, 15 April 2007 — With the beginning of the Umrah season this week, hotels in Makkah and Madinah are running full.
“The sudden influx of Umrah pilgrims is due to the issue of Umrah visas by the Saudi diplomatic missions abroad during the first week of this month,” Hassan Rauf, general manager of the Dallah Taiba Hotel, told Arab News yesterday.
The Umrah season is to continue till the second week following the holy month of Ramadan. The number of Umrah pilgrims and visitors to Madinah are expected to cross the four-million mark this year, according to sources.
“Weekends become more strenuous for the hoteliers since the local pilgrims from other parts of the Kingdom also visit the two holy cities during their holidays,” said Rauf. More than 100 luxury buses carrying Umrah passengers come here from the Saudi capital during weekends.
Umrah travel operators in Riyadh offer an attractive weekend package for SR90 per pilgrim, which includes bus fare and accommodation in Makkah or Madinah.
“Pilgrims from Indonesia, Turkey, Malaysia, Morocco, Singapore and Sri Lanka are coming in large numbers and people from Egypt, Brunei and from other countries will follow suit depending on the issuance of Umrah visas by the respective missions abroad,” Rauf said.
Zaveen Ahmed, who has been working in the Kingdom’s hotel industry during the past 15 years, said there is a marked increase in Umrah traffic from Turkey and Morocco during the current month of Rabi Al-Awwal. “These pilgrims believe that it is more rewarding to perform Umrah during this month, which marks the birth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him),” he added.
Explaining the pressure of guest load on the hotels in Madinah, Imran Ahmed, who deals with hotel reservations in the city, told Arab News that the overseas travel operators aggravate hoteliers’ problems by sending them guests without definite reservations. “How can we give rooms when the whole hotel is full?” he asked. “Sometimes, they send families with children and we find them accommodation in some other hotels with less facilities,” he added.
Sri Lankan pilgrims were seen prominently among those who came from South Asian countries. Saudi Ambassador in Colombo, Muhammad Mahmud Al-Ali told Arab News that his mission has already issued more than 2,000 Umrah visas. “A remarkable increase compared to previous years,” he said.
The local hotels, in liaison with the tour operators, have arranged city tours to historical sites in the city for the benefit of visitors to the Prophet’s Mosque. Places of interest include the Quba Mosque — the first mosque built by the Holy Prophet in Madinah, the Qiblatain Mosque, and the graveyard on the foothills of Mount Uhud, where the martyred Companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him) are buried.
The Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Call and Guidance has set up an information center in the vicinity of the burial grounds to distribute booklets free-of-charge to the visitors to the site.
