The Supreme Committee for Hajj and Umrah (lower lesser pilgrimage), confirmed that no Egyptian citizens will travel for the Umrah without taking the ministry of tourism's approval. The committee announced on Wednesday during its meeting with the Minister of Tourism, Rania Al-Mashat, that it has taken a number of decisions to protect the market. The meeting was held on Tuesday evening with the aim of discussing the results of issuing Saudi e-Umrah visas and obtaining some of them without the approval of the ministry of tourism, as well as a number of companies obtaining Umrah visas for Egyptian citizens residing outside Egypt. For its part, the ministry of tourism declared in a press statement that it added a new regulation for the controls of the Umrah, which were approved at the beginning of the current season, which obligates companies organising Umrah trips to send the number of Umrah passengers to the Chamber of Tourism companies and get the chamber's approval first, after which the approvals will be sent to the ministry of tourism in order to get the general security's approval on the passenger list, stamped with Egypt's logo. Furthermore, these approvals will be handed over to the ministry's committees in airports and ports. The ministry stressed that if the companies which organise Umrah trips neglect this procedure, it would be considered a legal violation, requiring the implementation of sanctions. Moreover, the ministry explained that it will authorise air, sea and land port delegations to ensure that tourism companies comply with the Umrah regulations and note any violators, pointing out that it will also charge the Chamber of Tourism companies to address the national committee for Hajj and Umrah in Saudi Arabia to commit to the Egyptian Umrah regulations. It will also call upon it to grant Egyptian companies the number of Umrah visas specified for each company during Ramadan, and to coordinate with the ministry of civil aviation, in order to ensure that all airspace companies that will carry the pilgrims will not issue any tickets to any tourist company which is not committed to the Umrah rules.
