These are the hovering sanctions against those tourist agencies which defraud the pilgrims

The National Office for the Hajj and Umrah has pre-empted pilgrimage season for the year 2017, by revealing the content of the new book of specifications which did not bring significant changes, even though it foresees tough sanctions against those tourist agencies which do not strictly abide by the book of specifications especially those unable to attract the required number of hajjis or pilgrims, at a percentage registration rate of about 75 percent.

According to the new conditions, the Office of Hajj and Umrah enjoined the travel agencies to respect a set of criteria before allowing them to participate in the organization of the 2017 pilgrimage season. Any lapses or negligence by the tourist agencies concerned at the expense of the hajjis or pilgrims would be severely sanctioned by the relevant authorities, the national office of the Hajj and Umrah warned.

The new measures are aimed at precluding the lapses and drifts committed by certain tourist agencies in the previous years.

The tourist agencies which will fail in their bounden pilgrimage mission would be stripped of their operating licence and closed down, according to the revised book of specifications.

In so doing, the National Office of Hajj and Umrah is steadily continuing its campaign to clean up the organization of Umrah 2017. It has just withdrawn the Umrah label from nine travel agencies, thus increasing the number of tour operators excluded from the organization of the Umrah or small pilgrimage since late last year to 53 at the national level.