RIYADH, 28 September 2006 — With the beginning of Ramadan, the rush to Makkah and Madinah from various parts of the Kingdom has picked up and gaining momentum. More than 75 luxury buses carrying Umrah passengers left Riyadh for Makkah yesterday.
Besides travel operators, community groups with the assistance of the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY) are ferrying pilgrims to Makkah.
“We have 50 pilgrims, mostly Sri Lankan new Muslims, in our group. We will provide transport, accommodation and food free of charge to all the pilgrims,” Moulavi A.S.M. Nisthar, a group leader, told Arab News.
A similar trip has been organized by the Dawa Center in Alkhobar. “This is a service offered for those people who cannot afford the journey on their own,” an official from the center said.
To lure pilgrims during this season, travel operators in the capital have come out with a wide range of packages.
A weekend package to Makkah and Madinah is offered at SR150. The trip leaves Riyadh at 4 p.m on Wednesdays and returns around midnight on Fridays. Those wishing to go only to Makkah will be charged SR10 less. Accommodation is provided in three-star hotels, which could be upgraded to a five star one on extra payment.
A five-day package to Makkah and Madinah will cost pilgrims only SR200, including travel and accommodation. The offer includes a two-day stay in a three-star hotel in Madinah and three-day lodging in a similar hotel in Makkah. The journey begins on Mondays and ends on Fridays. Pilgrims will leave Makkah after Juma prayers and reach Riyadh around midnight.
“The Umrah rush will gradually increase and reach its peak during the last 10 days of Ramadan,” an Umrah operator told Arab News, while anticipating around 100,000 pilgrims from Riyadh in the latter half of the holy month.
He added that a large number of men who live on a bachelor basis go for the weekend package, while families prefer the five-day package. Children have to pay SR125 per head for the five-day journey.
Each family is given a large room while the bachelors are accommodated on a sharing basis, he said.
There are more than 100 Umrah travel operators spread out in the capital but there is a large concentration of them in downtown Batha.
“People come to the city center for their travel reservation since most of the travel-operators are located there,” said Abdul Aziz, a travel agent in Batha. He added that the package remains uniform in all travel offices since the profit margin in the trade is very low.
The buses that start from Batha and Wazarah districts have to go through the Central Bus Terminal in Aziziyah to allow authorities to keep a check on the number of passengers who go to Makkah and Madinah. Traffic police at checkpoints have been instructed not to allow coaches that bypass the Central Bus Terminal.
