Egyptian Minister of Tourism Hesham Zazou said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia decided to decrease the number of Egyptian pilgrims to 20% this year. Zazou stated that the decision is disastrous and will harm the pilgrimage season; wondering how the Egyptian Ministry of Interior will determine the situation of pilgrims after announcing the names of lot? Egypt gets 80.000 visas; the share of the non-governmental organizations is 20.000 ones, 37.000 for the travel agencies, and 32.000 for the Ministry of Interior. As to the Umrah issue, Zazou said it hasn't finished yet and it is expected that a committee, comprises members of the religious tourism committee and the Saudi authorities, will hold to announce the final stance over Ramadan's Umrah. The Egyptian minister added that "I don't know how could be the negative impact of such a decision on the travel agencies, but the two sides are exposed to losses". The Saudi authorities informed Egypt at the beginning of the week with the decision of decreasing the visas to 15 days, instead of 30 days. The decision will deprive as to 200.000 Egyptians of performing the Umrah.
