Earlier, the Haj Ministry used to close visas for Umrah
during the month of Safar as an extension of the cleaning up and maintenance
time required after Hajj. Every year, pilgrims were not allowed to visit for
Umrah during the month of Muharram and Safar. However, this year the Hajj
Ministry has been lenient and has allowed 750,000 pilgrims to perform Umrah
during the month of Safar. This has proved as a boost to the economy as tourism
increased as those pilgrims who had not been able to perform Umrah earlier or
were rejected visas got a chance this time.
The expert in Hajj and Umrah tourism said this will be a
boost to the economy as it is expected that around 6 million pilgrims will be
visiting for Umrah this year. National income will be given a boost and
national tourism will also increase. This development in the issuing of Umrah
visas will lead to a better turnover in terms of pilgrims as well as the
economy as all hotels, airlines and transport companies will be taking
advantage from it. This is a great news for pilgrims as last year the Hajj
ministry had actually decreased the percentage of pilgrims. It was so much so
that from some countries the pilgrims cut-down was up to 20%. and even during
the peak seasons.
After Hajj 2013, the season for Umrah began from 4th
December and will last till the last week of July which will be the end of
Ramadan. The Hajj ministry is taking necessary steps to regulate the visa
process and stop people from staying back in Saudi Arabia illegally. There is a
network that is spread around the world for the issuance of Umrah visas and
these agencies are directly related to the ministry of Interior and Foreign
Affairs. There are still many fraudulent Umrah touring organizations that overcharge
or commit outright fraud towards the pilgrims by stealing their money. The Hajj
Ministry is making sure unfortunate events as such do not happen in the future.
Everything will be monitored electronically so that little
fraud can be committed. The whole Umrah itinerary will be tracked by the
Ministry and from the pilgrims arrival to departure back to their home country
they will be under surveillance. Everything will be done in a timely way and
the ministry wants to ensure that pilgrims are not taken advantage of nor do
the pilgrims stay back illegally and create problems.
If you or someone you know is planning on performing Umrah
then make sure that the Umrah touring organization you choose is reliable. It
is important to get feedback and reviews about a variety of organizations so
that one can make a wise choice.
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