Dramatic rise in Makkah hotel bookings this year

JEDDAH: The hotel bookings in the Makkah region reached beyond 90 percent during the mid-academic year holidays, from March 10-19.

The increase in the bookings, which is 30 percent higher than the same period last year, is being attributed to the arrival of foreigners, coming for Umrah, according to Khaleel Bahader, a tourism expert and vice chairman of Hotels and Tourism Committee at the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI).
Bahader, who owns a group of hotels in Makkah, said the moderate weather during the holidays has made a number of Saudi families and expatriates from various parts of the Kingdom to visit Makkah for Umrah.
He said the bookings for groups during this period also registered a huge increase in comparison to previous years , which has also contibuted to booking being marginally cheaper this year.
Bahader expects that hotel bookings in Makkah during the months of Rajab and Ramadan will go above 30 percent because companies and organizers of services have already started taking reservations for this period.
The entry of a number of new hotels to accommodate Haj and Umrah pilgrims in Makkah every year was in response to the increase in their numbers. New areas and localities have also been included on the map of new hotels and furnished apartments to be built there, he said.
Bahader urged the Ministry of Haj to expedite the much-awaited decision regarding approval of a number of overseas Umrah companies, which the ministry intends to increase.
The number of these overseas companies was reduced due to their violations of rules and regulations during the past several years. The number of these companies fell from 200 to just 40, but the number of domestic Umrah companies increased during the same period.
He said the Ministry of Haj informed those who work in the area of Haj and Umrah services that the awaited regulations were aimed at improving the performance of all sides concerned with Haj and Umrah services.
Bahader demanded that the Ministry of Haj give priority on regulating foreign Umrah companies whose establishment are expected to be approved, as well as owners of hotels and pilgrim transport companies, and others who have much experience in the service of pilgrims and Umrah arrivals, which have huge logistic possibilities in this area.
He said that there have been developments in the Haj and Umrah pilgrims’ accommodation sector during last 10 years in the form of new expansions of the Grand Mosque in Makkah and expropriation of many small hotels and furnished apartment buildings, which were located in the central region.
There has also been the entry of new players, including big companies, in the area of setting up big hotels, which comprise 30 percent of the hotel operators and workers in the accommodation sector.
On the cost of accommodations for Umrah, he said that during the last three years, there has been consolidation in the costs.
In some areas used by large companies for Haj and Umrah services, the cost of accommodations has come down, following the reduction in the number of Umrah pilgrims due to the expansion projects of the Grand Mosque.
There has been pressure on these companies and hotels in Makkah and Madinah to accept a reduction in costs, which resulted in losses for many operators in the sector.