A total of 1.63 million Umrah visas were issued December 23 and January 20, with Egypt, Indonesia and Pakistan ranked as the top countries that received the largest number of visas.

Aside from the three, other countries included in the list were GCC and Arab countries like Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Tunisia, Lebanon, Syria and Turkey among others.

In line with this, the Saudi Arabia has revealed the start of the Umrah Season 1436, which will also signal the start of the implementation of new regulations and guidelines for Umrah pilgrims visiting the kingdom. The regulations, which have been reviewed, revised and updated in partnership with the government and private sectors, will be applied during this new Umrah season.

Ziyad Bin Mahfouz, president, Elaf Group, said: “The Elaf Group remains fully committed towards its move to provide world class high quality services to pilgrims performing Umrah this season. We will be working closely with government authorities in serving these pilgrims from the time they arrive in Saudi Arabia to the time they complete their pilgrimage and depart the country. As a key player in Saudi’s tourism industry, we pledge to do our part of providing high quality services that meet the needs of these Umrah visitors like transportation and hotel arrangements—widely helping in the advancement of the country’s tourism for religious purposes sector.”

The new guidelines were developed by the Ministry of Haj and include new standards for travel and tourism based companies that operate inside and outside of the kingdom. The new standards include provisions in granting visas, offering services and the training and qualification for travel agents and other tourism related positions. The move is part of the government’s continuing effort to enhance and upgrade the level of offered services for tourists visiting the kingdom to perform Umrah and Haj. – TradeArabia News Service