By Akram Medhat
Eman Samy, head of the Religious Tourism Committee at the Chamber of Tourism Companies, revealed that the total amount paid as booking deposit fees by the companies running the various Hajj programs has reached EGP 845 million.
Samy told Travel Yalla News that the number of people who paid the booking deposit, according to Ministry of Tourism data, reached 74,412 citizens for the tourist Hajj lottery for the 1438 AH season. The economy level accounts for the lion's share of demand, followed by overland, then five-star, with the lowest share for the four-star level, owing to the small number of hotels rated 4 stars.
Samy noted that the Hajj lottery will be held immediately after the blessed Eid al-Fitr, pointing out that the Ministry of Tourism approved the Chamber's request to extend the period for registering citizens' names in the tourist Hajj lottery until Tuesday, June 20, corresponding to 25 Ramadan, instead of tomorrow, June 8, corresponding to 13 Ramadan. This opens the way for more citizens wishing to perform Hajj to apply, since demand was very low amid program prices inflated by the flotation of the pound, and the period allocated for registering pilgrims' data was not sufficient before it was amended.
She pointed out that merely paying the fees for a Hajj application does not mean that it is actually the real application of the citizens who applied to the companies, as the real application consists of registering the name of the person wishing to perform Hajj after registering their passport on the electronic system of the tourist Hajj lottery.
Under the tourist Hajj rules, the booking deposit was set at EGP 20,000 for the 5-star tourist level and EGP 15,000 for the 4-star level, while the amount is EGP 10,000 for both the economy and overland levels.
She added that a company submits the original payment receipt to the Chamber and obtains a stamped copy of the receipt and a letter to submit to the Ministry of Tourism, so that it can register the names of citizens wishing to perform the pilgrimage. Deductions are made from the amounts paid according to the number of pilgrims registered on the website; that is, a company will be allowed to register a number of names corresponding to the amount it deposited, and according to the level it specified before registration.
It is worth noting that, under the rules, the proposed cap on passports for registering citizens applying for tourist Hajj programs for the 1438 AH season depends on the type of program and the years of experience of the companies running Hajj, ranging between 50 and 135 passports.
Read also:
New 2017 Tourist Hajj Prices After the Increase
Tourism Ministry: Registration of Citizens' Names in Tourist Hajj Lottery Extended Until June 20
