By Renad Ghanem
Saudi Gazette
CAIRO — Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism has announced that Egyptian pilgrims will be able to embark for Umrah starting Rajab through Shaban until the end of Ramadan.
The announcement was made following discussions between Egypt’s Minister of Tourism Yehia Rashid and representatives of companies that specialize in religious tourism.
The companies had called for the ministry to confine the Umrah season for Egyptian pilgrims to Rajab, Shaban and Ramadan – three months of the Islamic calendar that are popular among many Egyptian Umrah pilgrims.
Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism backed the suggestion. Sherif Fathy works for a religious tourism operator. He said that the discussion would be beneficial, as the sector had been facing huge difficulties over the past few months.
“It’s a huge industry. I’m glad that we will be able to send pilgrims during the months when Egyptian pilgrims generaly prefer to perform Umrah. Many Egyptians are keen to perform Umrah during these three months because they consider them holy,” he said.
Speaking about his expectations for the upcoming period, he said, “It’s hard to expect numbers, but it will be fair one way or another. We faced a difficult time, but I believe that this will pass,” he said.
“Speaking about my company, we haven’t yet set the price of trips, but the costs will be higher than the past due to the currency exchange rates,” he added.
