JEDDAH, 19 November 2004 — A pilgrim spends SR3,500 on average, according to a Haj Ministry study, and the total spending by three million pilgrims during this year’s Umrah season is put at SR8.4 billion.
The ministry estimates the annual contribution of Umrah service to the gross domestic product at 1.22 percent. The percentage is expected to rise in coming years.
Dr. Isa Rawwas, deputy minister for Umrah affairs, said the ministry was closely following up the return journey of Umrah pilgrims.
“We have instructed Umrah service companies that they should take pilgrims to ports only after making sure that ships have arrived to take them back to their home countries. This is vital to prevent squatting of pilgrims at the port,” he said, noting the opening of Yanbu port for pilgrims should reduce the pressure on the Jeddah Islamic Port.
Rawwas urged the agents at foreign Umrah firms to provide accurate pilgrim information to Saudi missions when applying for Umrah visas. Applications with incorrect information are rejected, he added.
More than 210 Umrah firms involved in the service have invested more than SR1 billion in the business.
A new system, which was launched four years ago, has made Umrah a year-round activity and provided jobs for 10,500 Saudis, who earn SR26.8 million in monthly wages.
More than 600 hotels and furnished apartments in Makkah currently compete to serve an estimated three million Umrah pilgrims who started coming in March.
Traders in Makkah markets have estimated the purchases of Saudis as well as foreign pilgrims during this Ramadan at more than SR4 billion.
Market analysts also are expecting as much as a 60 percent rise in sales of readymade dresses this year. Abdullah Suleiman Al-Mashat, owner of a chain of readymade dress shops in the Kingdom, attributed the rise in sales to an increase in the number of foreign pilgrims.
New SAPTCO Fleet
Abdullah Al-Fayez, director general of Saudi Arabian Public Transport Company (SAPTCO), emphasized the company’s plan to expand its Haj and Umrah services with a new fleet of buses. SAPTCO recently signed an SR300 million deal with Ibrahim Al-Juffali & Bros. Co. to import 450 Mercedes Benz buses. DaimlerChrysler will supply the new buses by the middle of next year.
“We have purchased 900 new buses over the past three years, bringing our total number of buses to over 3,000.”
SAPTCO operates between 10 Arab countries, including Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Sudan, Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. “We also transport Haj and Umrah pilgrims from abroad,” he added.
