A member of the Association of Tourism and Travel Agents, representative of Hajj and Umrah companies, Essam Al-Shaer, called on the Ministry of Endowments, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places to withdraw from the circular book issued at the beginning of this year, which the Ministry calls on the offices of transportation and housing services for pilgrims and Umrah performers to circulate and warn all Umrah performers traveling by air and land to check themselves and make sure that they are not Existence of a travel ban issued against them by judicial enforcement or any other security agency.

The poet was surprised that the Umrah offices were charged with carrying out this procedure, especially since the circular indicates that whoever violates and does not adhere to the previous instructions will bear full responsibility for any delay or damage to the pilgrims, considering that this is a personal security matter so that everyone who wishes to travel inquires about his security situation before The date of the trip, away from the request of the Hajj offices to organize this procedure.

He pointed out that the responsibility of the travel and tourism offices should be limited to the services provided to the pilgrims in accordance with the program that is agreed upon with the pilgrims, and that the Umrah office should not be held accountable if it is discovered that one of the travelers has a security problem upon reaching the border.

The Ministry of Religious Endowments did not respond to questions related to the offices’ request to retract this circular.

Regarding the preparations and expectations regarding Umrah during the upcoming blessed month of Ramadan, Al-Shaer expected that the numbers of pilgrims would be excellent and close to what they were before the Corona pandemic, especially since the Saudi authorities lifted all the restrictions that were put in place during the pandemic, hoping that the number of pilgrims for this year would exceed 50,000 pilgrims. Note that Ramadan for the year 2019, that is, before the Corona pandemic, about 80,000 Jordanians performed Umrah.

He explained that the cost of the Umrah trip during Ramadan this year will remain around 300 dinars as it has been since the beginning of the season, and will rise in the event of providing additional services required by the pilgrims, such as air travel or booking hotels close to the Great Mosque of Mecca.

Regarding the Ministry of Awqaf’s preference for announcing the lists of pilgrims before Ramadan, Al-Shaer confirmed that the Hajj and Umrah offices have completed their preparations regarding the registration of those wishing to perform the obligatory ritual this year and are awaiting the ministry’s announcement of the lists, which will coincide with the request to confirm the desire to perform the obligatory duty by registering in one of the approved Hajj and Umrah offices. The ministry has 166 offices. The ministry charges an annual fee of 700 dinars from each office. The office owners consider it exaggerated, but they are forced to pay it because it is the only way to enable them to provide their services to those wishing to perform Hajj and Umrah.

It is noteworthy that the cost of Hajj in the regular program for this year is about 3,000 Jordanian dinars, while it starts with about 5,000 for the distinguished pilgrimage and may exceed ten thousand dinars, according to the additional services that the pilgrim requests, such as airline tickets and accommodation in Mecca.

The share of pilgrims to Jordan for this year amounts to 8,000 pilgrims, of which 20% will be funded by the Hajj Fund, while the number of initial registrants to perform the Hajj for this season is about 30,000.

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