Saudi suspends 1,800 Umrah travel agencies due to poor performance

Saudi Arabia suspended the contracts of 1,800 foreign travel agencies, out of approximately 5,800 operating in the Umrah sector, the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah announced on Sunday.

The ministry gave the affected agencies a 10-day grace period to address deficiencies found during the periodic evaluation, which showed shortcomings in performance and service quality.

According to the ministry, the suspension applies only to new visa issuance and is part of a regulatory approach to help agencies address issues and improve compliance with approved standards. Contracts will be reactivated once the requirements are met within the grace period.

The Ministry emphasised that pilgrims with valid visas or existing bookings will not be affected, and services will continue uninterrupted.

Ministry Spokesperson Ghassan Alnwaimi said that regulatory action will be taken against any agency that fails to correct its deficiencies by the specified deadline. He said the ministry will continue to apply monitoring and evaluation tools to strengthen the reliability of the Umrah sector and safeguard pilgrims' rights.