By Akram Medhat
Eman Samy, head of the Religious Tourism Committee at the Chamber of Tourism Companies, told Travel Yalla News in exclusive statements that the total number of Egyptian Umrah pilgrims who have obtained Umrah visas reached about 564,000 as of the start of this week, since the 1438 AH Umrah season opened in mid-February, covering the Rajab and Shaaban Umrahs and the trips of the first half of Ramadan.
According to these statistics, the current Umrah season is expected to close with about 600,000 Egyptian pilgrims, a decline of up to 52% compared with last season, 1437 AH, which saw the highest Umrah turnout, at 1.3 million Egyptian pilgrims. This sharp decline was due to the late start of the current season and the sharp rise in program prices after the flotation of the Egyptian pound and the doubling of the Saudi riyal's value against it.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Tourism approved extending the return period for Egyptian Umrah pilgrims until 14 Shawwal, instead of the previous deadline for return trips of 5 Shawwal, in order to avoid congestion of Umrah flights in arrival halls during the blessed Eid al-Fitr, given the heavy flight operations in that period.
