The Egyptian Official Gazette (Al-Waqa'i Al-Misriya) today published the terms and regulations for operating Umrah trips for the 1441 AH season, after the Higher Committee for Hajj and Umrah discussed the latest developments of the new season and completed setting the regulations, ahead of the start of the Umrah season in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which is scheduled to begin immediately after the end of this year's Hajj season. This came in light of the Cabinet's decision to establish an electronic portal titled the "Egyptian Umrah Portal", issued at its meeting on Wednesday, July 24.
The Umrah regulations set out the executive procedures for dealing with the Egyptian Umrah Portal, which will be established through the Ministry of Tourism, with the portal operating according to the following rules and procedures:
Tourism companies shall document their contracts with Saudi agents electronically on the portal, in accordance with the system in force in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, after coordination with the Egyptian Chamber of Travel and Tourism Companies and Agencies.
The Ministry of Tourism shall grant companies a username and password for the portal, and tourism companies are obliged to post the Umrah programs they organize and upload them to the portal, showing the names of the Egyptian pilgrims traveling with them and the national ID number of each.
The ministry shall also grant a special barcode to each pilgrim, after coordination with the relevant authorities, and send the pilgrims' names to the air, land or sea transport companies to issue travel tickets for them only, and each pilgrim's barcode will be linked to the Egyptian Passports Authority.
This year's Umrah regulations include a number of general regulations for companies authorized to operate Umrah programs, and also stipulate commitment to the established standards for housing pilgrims, and regulations for accommodation in both Mecca and Medina, in accordance with the accommodation specified in the programs agreed with the pilgrim.
The regulations stressed the need for the Egyptian Chamber of Tourism Companies to apply the medical care system for pilgrims, in addition to reapplying the reserve bus system to deal with emergencies on overland Umrah trips. They also included regulations for supervisors and for contracting with Saudi agent establishments.
In addition, there are regulations for overland Umrah trips, including that the model year of the vehicle used for the Umrah trip must not be older than 2011, along with the need to ensure the vehicle's safety from the touristic and technical aspects in coordination with the General Traffic Department.
