AS more and more people have expressed their intentions to perform their Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages to the Holy City of Makkah, travel and tourism based companies should remember three basic points that ensures both the safety and convenience of their clients when visiting the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The next point to remember is that the tour operator, at all times, should adhere to set safety requirements – always keeping the safety and security of their visitors on the top of their list.
Last point is to keep the number of ‘stay back’ visitors to a minimum, keeping in mind that the offered package is for pilgrimage purposes and that all members of the tour group should head back to their home countries after performing Hajj and Umrah.
For hotels hosting the stay of these pilgrims, certain amenities should be improved to make their stay comfortable and convenient. These improvements include the offering of modern and technological amenities like wi-fi availability and faster check-in and check-out processing. Hotels in Saudi Arabia are slightly different from regular hotels in the GCC as they are Shari’ah compliant, have limited food and beverage offerings, and cater to predominantly large groups and host longer-staying visitors.
Industry wise, tourism for religious purposes has widely expanded and now caters to a year-long calendar of people visiting the country to perform their Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages.
Following and adhering to the standards and guidelines set by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities ensures the continued success and growth of the Kingdom’s tourism industry.
• The writer is president of Elaf Group of Companies
By Ziyad Bin Mahfouz