Dar Al Eiman: Raising the number of Umrah visas allows price competition and avoids any increases
Expectations that Saudi companies currently operating will gain a bigger share of the Egyptian market at the expense of suspended ones
A number of Saudi agents taking part in the International Forum for Arab Tourism and Umrah, held at the end of last week, affirmed that prices of services offered to Egyptian Umrah pilgrims, which include hotel accommodation, transfers between Mecca and Medina and internal transport to visitation sites, remain stable despite the challenges, while there are expectations of higher prices for programs in the coming Umrah season, which begins with the Prophet's Birthday. They indicated that this increase is due to Egyptian domestic factors, and expected their business in the Egyptian market to grow, especially after the Saudi authorities suspended a number of agents at the end of last season, reaching 8 companies out of a total of 48 agents.
In this context, Mohamed Al-Zaidi, CEO of the Saudi company Hamad Al-Zaidi for Umrah Services, said in statements to Travel Yalla that prices of services offered to Umrah pilgrims are unchanged from last season, which is almost agreed upon among Saudi agents, especially given the increased activity following the Saudi Ministry of Hajj's decision to open Umrah visas to 1.25 million pilgrims, in addition to the expected decision to distribute the quotas of the 8 suspended Saudi companies among current agents, which will increase competition. However, pricing in Egypt may differ and rise due to other domestic factors.
Al-Zaidi explained that the Mataf (circumambulation area) project in the courtyard of the Grand Mosque in Mecca is set to be completed at the beginning of next Safar, while the remaining phases of the development and expansion projects at the two Holy Mosques in Mecca and Medina are proceeding at full speed. He added that the Saudi government aims to open up the Umrah market and increase Hajj numbers, and that current agents are able to carry out any number of Umrah programs without being affected by the exit of some agents from the market.
He noted that last year Saudi Arabia recorded 5 million Umrah pilgrims, of whom Hamad Al-Zaidi's share was 100,000, including 18,725 from Egypt through 19 tourism companies that are our agents.
As for Prophet's Birthday Umrah program prices, Al-Zaidi revealed that the price of the 15-day Umrah package, including internal transfers and accommodation in Mecca and Medina hotels, starts from 1,000 to 1,200 Saudi riyals. These prices are offered to Egyptian companies, which in turn add other components, most notably airline tickets and other services they provide to the pilgrim.
For his part, Atef Abdel-Fattah, general manager of New Sky, representative in Egypt of the Saudi company Al Fawzan for Umrah Services, affirmed that the prices of Al Fawzan's services offered to Umrah pilgrims in Saudi Arabia are stable in terms of accommodation and transfers. He noted that the number of tourism companies "we deal with" in Egypt is expected to increase, along with the number of Egyptian Umrah pilgrims served by "Al Fawzan" next season, after the Saudi government's decision to suspend 8 Saudi agents, whose quotas are set to be distributed among current agents. He pointed out that the company carried out programs for 41,150 Umrah pilgrims last season through 22 Egyptian tourism companies.
On another note, Ashraf Saleh, regional general manager in Egypt of the Saudi company Dar Al Eiman, affirmed to Travel Yalla the importance of the Egyptian market to the company's business, as it accounts for 20% of the Umrah pilgrims whose programs it organizes from around the world, with programs carried out for 14,913 Egyptian pilgrims through 18 tourism companies.
Saleh said the new rules announced by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj on increasing visas in the Umrah season encourage demand and open the way for competition in services and prices, noting the company's readiness for this increase, as it has increased its hotel investments in Mecca and Medina, reaching 4,300 rooms in Mecca and 3,600 rooms in Medina, "which puts us in first place in terms of business volume."
Saleh pointed out that agents face some challenges from rising annual operating expenses, whether hotel rents or labor costs, which force them to raise prices; this year accommodation prices will rise by 15%, in addition to other burdens the Egyptian market suffers from, namely the higher exchange rate of the riyal against the pound. Egyptian companies can deal with these problems through other mechanisms, such as boosting sales of 3-star Umrah programs to reduce costs.
He added that the coincidence of the Prophet's Birthday Umrah with the mid-year school holidays could lead to very heavy demand, causing problems for pilgrims and companies due to higher hotel accommodation prices during that period and the unavailability of airline tickets relative to demand, in addition to the heavy crowds at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, so that the pilgrim does not enjoy the visit.
He explained that the increase in accommodation prices will be higher at Medina hotels as a result of the expansions at the Prophet's Mosque, so it would be better to amend the Umrah rules on the distance of accommodation from the Holy Mosque to go beyond the central area, to escape the high prices, which would make it possible to avoid the expected increase.
He pointed out that a large number of Saudi agents will enter the market to cover the planned increase in the number of Umrah pilgrims, and if the quotas of current agents are increased, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj will set rules requiring the agent's capabilities in investment and labor to be commensurate with the targeted service capacity.
