JEDDAH: This year’s Haj is to experience a sharp decline in the number of Saudi and non-Saudi domestic pilgrims, said Saad Al-Qurashi, head of the Haj and Umrah Commission at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
“There will be 70 percent fewer domestic pilgrims this year compared to last year,” said Al-Qurashi. “As of today, around 68,000 Haj permits have been issued to domestic pilgrims. That number includes expatriates and people who come from neighboring GCC countries,” he said.
Al-Qurashi added that 1.7 million Haj visas have also been issued to foreign pilgrims.
The entire Haj and Umrah sector is currently seeing heavy financial losses with experts estimating that losses are running into hundreds of millions of Saudi riyals.
Many Haj groups have also been forced to drop prices to lure pilgrims.
The sharp decline is thought to be because of local people opting to travel abroad during the Haj holidays and the fear of a potential H1N1 outbreak in spite of the Saudi Ministry of Health assuring members of the public that swine flu vaccines are available and safe.
The Kingdom also witnessed a decline in pilgrims last Ramadan. To attract more pilgrims, the Passport Department — the body responsible for issuing Haj permits — has extending the time for accepting applications from people wanting to perform Haj, said Director General of the Passport Department Maj. Gen. Salim bin Mohammed Al-Bulaihed.
