Last month, weeks before the start of Hajj, Saudi Arabia launched a new online portal, Motawif, through which all pilgrims from Europe, America and Australia must now book using a lottery system. That means long-standing tour operators in those countries could be cut off, even after taking bookings this year. On average, UK-based tour operators organize trips for around 20,000 – 25,000 pilgrims each year, but many of them were only informed of the dramatic changes at the same time as the public. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah said it had taken the measures to ease access, keep numbers manageable and combat potential fraud by unscrupulous agents, arguing that an automated, one-stop service would streamline and protect visa processes, flight and accommodation. But last week there was mass confusion as many British, European and North American Muslims were stranded at airports, put off their destinations, complained of last-minute price hikes, a lack of facilities for disabled and elderly pilgrims and in some cases, they have to share hotel rooms with strangers. “The Saudis made a very late and very quick decision, which has undoubtedly affected us,” said Mohammad Arif of Haji Tours in Manchester, a UK-wide franchised travel agency specializing in pilgrimage packages to Mecca and Medina. “I am not questioning the decision but just the length of the warning. We were only told about the booking system at the same time as everyone else – even though we were an approved company,” he told Al Jazeera. He said that although he had to shuffle some of his clients into the Motawif system, he was involved in helping some of them. “I’ve had to get wheelchairs for an elderly couple and people are pushing them, they’re not ready for that yet.” “We would be grateful to Saudi Arabia if we somehow remained part of the Hajj process from the UK, but we had to act hastily.” British Labor politician Yasmin Qureshi, chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hajj and Umrah, said she was in contact with the Saudi government about the robbery faced by pilgrims from the UK. He told Al Jazeera: “Despite writing to them many times, we finally heard that the Saudi government has sent a team to Britain to deal specifically with helping those going to Hajj, and we have some help at the other end to the British. consulate general in Jeddah.”
Digital era
The digital movement has been a long time coming, says Seán McLoughlin, Professor of the Anthropology of Islam at the University of Leeds. He told Al Jazeera: “The Motawif system is essentially a third generation of Hajj-related businesses. “You had independent travelers in the West from the 60s and then after mass immigration from Asian and African countries with large Muslim communities, then from the late 1990s to the 2000s you started getting bespoke Hajj tour operators in Europe and beyond, and now you’ve gone online.” As of 2006, Hajj visits could only be made through licensed agents. McLoughlin has been studying British Muslims’ Hajj experiences since the late 1990s and is the author of the report, Mapping the UK’s Hajj Sector: Moving to communication and consensus (2019). He continued: “Saudi Arabia has been trying to develop a form of religious tourism since the 1990s, and what is happening now should be seen from that perspective. “While it seems like this move may have come out of the blue, it’s been on the horizon for some time and many travel agents probably sensed it, but perhaps didn’t know what form it might take.” The main issue for Arif of Haji Tours was that as soon as it was announced that Hajj was on again, his company started booking but then had to turn back or rebook many of his clients at the last minute. so they can use the new, official channels. “We’ve paid off any holding deposits, even if we were owed money further down the line,” he said, adding that he has sold off some of his property to help pay the refunds. “As our customers are good to us and we want to be good to them, and we have always had good relations with our Saudi partners. “But you can’t organize a Hajj trip in a short period of time, you need time, so we reset our systems months ago after COVID, like the apartments we always use in Mecca and Medina – we’ve been using the same people for over 10 years . We were ready as soon as we understood that Hajj was taking place again.”
Global turmoil, uncertainty
The turmoil has been felt in the Hajj tour industry worldwide, with many now facing uncertainty and, in extreme cases, the possible end of their businesses and a fragile situation as they carefully negotiate with Saudi officials. The UK trade association, Licensed Hajj Organisers, in a statement to Al Jazeera said: “Anything we say could be taken out of context and could be seen as biased and we do not want to bring the Hajj into disrepute. “We respect the fact that KSA [the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia] it is a sovereign country and has its own rules and regulations in place to support its vision of empowering its citizens. Our thoughts and prayers are with all pilgrims and especially those from non-Muslim countries.” There is no doubt that Riyadh’s Ministry of Hajj is acting in anything but good faith as it irons out the wrinkles in the Motawif system. However, several people and groups contacted by Al Jazeera were reluctant to comment or be named in case they were seen as critical of Saudi officials. But even a week after the Hajj began, the tone has changed little, McLaughlin noted. “I think some of that initial reticence has turned into more open discussion as the operators see that they can push back a little bit and the Saudis are slowly accepting what they’re saying.”
New restrictions
The lottery system is designed to keep numbers below a million or below, compared to 2019, when 2.5 million Muslims made the Hajj journey before the coronavirus pandemic hit. But the 2022 schedule bars those over 65 and any Muslim who has completed the Hajj in the past five years. This is obviously bad news for the elderly Muslims who have waited and saved a lifetime to perform Hajj in their fall years, but Arif hopes Saudi officials will learn and adapt from how things play out this year. He said: “Let’s see what feedback we get, which will help Saudi officials and our industry understand what the future will look like. It is for many Muslims something they have saved for their whole lives and something they will only do once, so they want it to be perfect. “Part of the issue is that every Muslim going to Hajj has unique needs and the online system sometimes may not be able to meet that. This is why the personalized service offered by Hajj tour operators has become so important.” In addition to expanding into high-end personalized Umrah tours – a non-mandatory, shorter pilgrimage that can be performed at any time – this personal element may well be a saving grace for the industry, McLoughlin said. “One of the many possible futures for Hajj agents may well be to sell their skills back to the Saudis.” Qureshi MP said the move to Motawif was done too hastily and will have a lasting effect on the Hajj sector in the UK. “They have been destroyed, in the UK alone, around 200 or more good operators have had their livelihoods destroyed.”
