From Muhammad Muhammad Kano
The National President of the Association of Hajj/Umrah Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Yahya Suleiman Nasidi, said Private Tour Operators may need the support the National Hajj Commission NAHCON in funding their operational account in Saudi Arabia early due to the tight hajj calendar this year.
Alh Nasidi said the association is worried that the 2024 Hajj may reach N6million against N3 Million paid by Tour Operator pilgrims in 2023 due to forex policies.
Speaking during the 2024 Hajj sensitization Seminar, with a theme, “Hajj 2024 New Challenges, Boundless Opportunity, in Kano, Wednesday, the AHUON President said the association has been in business for over years. operating for over 15 years.
“We have been getting concessionary forex from the Federal Government even we enjoyed the subsidise rate last year.
Therefore, we are appealing to Federal government not to allow us go to open forex market this year as it will jerk up the Hajj fare astronomically.
Alh Nasidi urges intending pilgrims to register early to be able to be part of the 2024 hajj because the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has fast-forwarded hajj preparations.
We expect pilgrims to make payments by November for us to be able to fund our offshore accounts. That is when we can process Visa and as you know, you can’t travel without Visa
Saudi Arabia has also come up with a policy of reducing the number of Private Hajj Operators. Last year, there were about 276 Tour Operators but it seems that only 10 will be allowed to operate this year due to the new regulations by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. That means it is 10 operators that may transport the 20,000 pilgrims allocated to Hajj and Umrah Operators
