The actual operation of the Egyptian Umrah Portal https://umrah.eg/, which the Ministry of Tourism announced in cooperation with the Chamber of Tourism Companies last July, begins tomorrow, Sunday. The portal is the Egyptian electronic platform for organizing Umrah trips, as His Excellency the Prime Minister issued Decree No. 1782 of 2019 establishing the Egyptian Umrah Portal, as part of the Egyptian state's keenness to keep pace with technological development in automating the services provided to citizens as one of the main pillars of the Sustainable Development Strategy: Egypt Vision 2030. The Ministry of Tourism had approved the rules and regulations governing the 1441 AH Umrah season early this year, and these regulations were published in the Egyptian Gazette (Al-Waqa'i' Al-Misriya), issue No. 117, dated August 6, 2019.
To learn the steps for booking Umrah trips on the Egyptian Umrah Portal, click here
Dr. Rania Al-Mashat stressed the importance of the Egyptian Umrah Portal, as automating Umrah procedures through this portal will achieve close supervision and monitoring of Umrah seasons and provide all the facilities needed for their success by streamlining executive procedures and making things easier for Egyptian citizens. It is also an important step to preserve the rights of Egyptian pilgrims and the rights of the Egyptian tourism companies implementing Umrah programs, in keeping pace with the technological development in automating Umrah services in Saudi Arabia.
She added that technological development is now an important element in all fields for raising the level of services provided, pointing to the state's keenness to keep pace with this development in the tourism sector, which is consistent with the institutional reform pillar of the structural reform program for developing the tourism sector concerning Hajj and Umrah, which aims at close supervision and monitoring of the Hajj and Umrah season and providing all the facilities needed for its success. It includes several executive measures: restructuring the Higher Committee for Hajj and Umrah and granting it powers that allow flexible decision-making, which has already been done; and the second measure, coordinating the automation of Hajj and Umrah procedures in Egypt to keep pace with their counterparts in Saudi Arabia.
She added that this portal is the product of continuous cooperation between the Ministry of Tourism and all relevant state parties and the Chamber of Travel and Tourism Companies and Agencies, as well as the product of continuous work and coordination on all security, legal and technical fronts, stressing that teamwork has become the Ministry of Tourism's approach in all files.
For his part, Ahmed Ibrahim, executive adviser to the Egyptian Umrah Portal and its official spokesman, explained that the portal has been linked to all the ministries concerned with travel (the Ministry of Interior's Passports Department and the Ministry of Civil Aviation), adding that the Egyptian Umrah Portal aims to organize pilgrims' travel through an integrated electronic system linking the Ministry of Tourism with all bodies concerned with the travel of Egyptian pilgrims, through which all procedures related to pilgrims' travel and their departure through land, sea and air ports are carried out, ensuring the state's full supervision of the organization of Umrah trips through the Ministry of Tourism, with the participation of the Egyptian Chamber of Travel and Tourism Companies and Agencies. He said that for any inquiries, people can get in touch through the official page of the Chamber of Travel and Tourism Companies and Agencies: www.facebook.com/etaaegypt2015
He pointed out that pilgrims can log on to the electronic Umrah Portal to choose any company to implement their Umrah program from among the companies on the portal, which number 1,833, are licensed by the Ministry of Tourism and documented with the Saudi agent, giving them the right to organize Umrah programs. He added that pilgrims can use their passport data to review the program (travel and return dates, hotels, supervisor).
He added that technical controls have been set for the system's operation, consisting of tourism companies documenting their contracts with Saudi agents electronically on the new portal, in accordance with the system in force in Saudi Arabia and in coordination with the Chamber of Travel and Tourism Companies and Agencies, as the Ministry of Tourism grants companies a username and password for the portal.
He explained that through the "Istighatha" (SOS) phone application connected to the portal, pilgrims can submit a distress call or complaint, as the application allows them to communicate with the supervisor, the ministry or the company organizing the program, ensuring that any problem a pilgrim faces is resolved as quickly as possible.
The Ministry of Tourism had held a press conference last July to announce the details of establishing the Egyptian Umrah Portal in cooperation with the Egyptian Chamber of Travel and Tourism Companies and Agencies, following the Cabinet's approval of the establishment of an electronic portal named "Egyptian Umrah Portal".
