Umrah agents cash in on Ramadan

July 1, 2014

Umrah agentRiyadh, Jul 1: Travel operators in Riyadh will increase the prices of weekend Umrah packages from SR90 per head to SR160 from Wednesday thanks to the influx of pilgrims during Ramadan.

Demand is expected to be heavy until the end of the Ramadan season.

This year, the peak season coincides with the summer holidays. As such, a large number of vacationers, including Saudis, are expected to perform Umrah.

A leading hotelier in Makkah said that foreign pilgrims are less compared to last year thanks to factors such as the World Cup and the MERS.

“The majority of pilgrims come from the Kingdom, as well as from the Gulf countries,” he said. “Other pilgrims come from countries such as Egypt, Turkey, Algeria, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia.”

Accommodation at five-star hotels skyrockets to anywhere between SR31,000 to SR40,000 for a 10-day period near the end of Ramadan.

There are nearly 275 Umrah travel operators spread out in the capital, but their largest concentration is located in the city center in Batha.

Riyadh’s Dawah Center has arranged 45 coaches to ferry Umrah pilgrims from the capital free-of-charge.

Moulavi Ramzan from the center told Arab News that program beneficiaries are mainly singles from Asian and Arab countries.

Accommodation, transport and iftar will be given to the pilgrims, he said.

A return fare from Riyadh to Makkah by luxury coach, including accommodation in Makkah, will cost SR160 per pilgrim. An additional charge of SR20 will be incurred if the pilgrim opts to visit the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah en route to Makkah.

Accommodation can be upgraded to four-star standards for a mere SR100.

According to a sales executive from Al-Rushd, a travel operator in the city, the trip to Makkah and Madinah sets out at 4 p.m. from Riyadh on Wednesday and ends on Friday at midnight.

Each family is given a large room, while bachelors are accommodated on a sharing basis, with three pilgrims per room. Children under 12 have to pay half the fare. “We will provide three-star hotel accommodation for our customers,” he said.

Another travel agent said a five-day package to Makkah and Madinah, including travel and accommodation, will cost a pilgrim only SR250.

The offer includes a two-day stay at a three-star hotel in Madinah and another two-day lodging at a similar hotel in Makkah. The journey begins on Monday and ends on Friday.

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Agencies
April 27,2020

Riyadh, Apr 27: A Saudi Arabia-led coalition said on Monday that all parties need to return to the status that existed before the Southern Transitional Council (STC) in Yemen declared an emergency in Aden, according to a statement published by Spa.

The Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, led by Saudi Arabia and the UAE, stresses the need to restore conditions to their previous state following the announcement of a state of emergency by the Southern Transitional Council and the consequential development of affairs in the interim capital (Aden) and some Southern governorates in the Republic of Yemen.

The Coalition urges for an immediate end to any steps contrary to the Riyadh Agreement, and work rapidly toward its implementation, citing the wide support for the agreement by the international community and the United Nations.

The Coalition has and will continue to undertake practical and systematic steps to implement the Riyadh Agreement between the parties to unite Yemeni ranks, restore state institutions and combat the scourge of terrorism. The responsibility rests with the signatories to the Agreement to undertake national steps toward implementing its provisions, which were signed and agreed upon with a time matrix for implementation. The Coalition demands an end to any escalation and calls for return to the Agreement by the participating parties, stressing the immediate need for implementation without delay, and the need to prioritise the Yemeni peoples' interests above all else, as well as working to achieve the stated goals of restoring the state, ending the coup and combatting terrorist organizations.

The Coalition reaffirms its ongoing support to the legitimate Yemeni government, and its support for implementing the Riyadh Agreement, which entails forming a competent government that operate from the interim capital Aden to tackle economic and developmental challenges, in light of natural disasters such as floods, fears of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic outbreak, and work to provide services to the brotherly people of Yemen.

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Agencies
August 8,2020

Beirut, Aug 7: A devastating explosion that destroyed much of Beirut might have been the result of a missile attack or bomb, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said, as the death toll from the blast rose to 154.

More than 2,700 tons of ammonium nitrate had been sitting in a port warehouse for six years, but there have been conflicting accounts about why Lebanese authorities decided to empty the shipment of explosive material. The vessel carrying the flammable cargo was heading from Georgia to Mozambique when it stopped in the Lebanese port to load up on iron, according to the ship’s captain.

By Friday, 19 suspects had been arrested and Lebanon’s former director general of customs Chafic Merhy had been questioned by military police.

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KT
April 21,2020

Abu Dhabi, Apr 21: The UAE has reported a further 490 new coronavirus infections, after conducting more than 30,000 new tests, bringing the total number of COVID-19 patients to 7,755.

According to the Ministry of Health and Prevention (MoHAP), three more coronavirus deaths have been confirmed, taking to 46 the country’s death toll.

The ministry revealed that it conducted more than 30,000 additional COVID-19 tests among UAE citizens and residents, using state-of-the-art technology in line with its plans to intensify virus screening in order to bring COVID-19 under control.

The accelerated investigative measures resulted in the detection of 490 new coronavirus cases among various nationalities, all of whom are in a stable condition and receiving the necessary care.

The deceased are of Asian nationalities and had pre-existing conditions coinciding with being infected with coronavirus, which resulted in complications that led to their death.

The ministry expressed its sincere condolences to the families of the deceased and wished a speedy recovery to all patients, calling on the public to cooperate with health authorities and comply with all precautionary measures, particularly social distancing protocols, to ensure the safety and protection of the public.

The ministry also announced the full recovery of 83 new cases after receiving the necessary treatment, taking to 1443 the total of those now recovered from the virus in the UAE.

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