Revenues of Hajj & Umrah sector to reach up to SR 9 Billion
According to a recent study, the revenues of the sector of hajj and Umrah for this year are expected to range between SR 5.234 billion and SR 9.018 billion.
The study forecasted that the revenues might jump to about SR 18.035 billion within the next ten years.
The study said the average of the revenues of Umrah sector constitutes 1.22 percent of the Gross National Product (GNP). "This means that it is equivalent to SR 7.75 billion."
The study said more projects of hotels and housing units will be implemented to meet the increasing number of pilgrims and Umrah performers.
Due to the openness of the Saudi market to all international products, the pilgrims and Umrah performers, when they go back to their homelands, they buy numerous commodities from the Saudi market, notably the electrical appliances and dates.
Sometimes the pilgrims and Umrah performers market some of the commodities of their own countries in the Kingdom like carpets, some of the foodstuffs and saffron.
One of the workers at the market of the electrical appliances said that the pilgrims and Umrah performers buy a lot of the electrical appliances when they return to their homeland.
He attributed this trendy choice to the availability of these commodities in large quantities at the Saudi market at suitable prices. These electrical and home appliances include mixers, recorders, computer and vacuum cleaners.
As the Kingdom is famous for its varied types of delicious dates which are of a high quality, the pilgrims and Umrah performers do not hesitate in buying large quantities of these dates.
The most famous pilgrims and Umrah performers in this respect include the Turks, the Indians, Indonesians, as well as Syrians and Jordanians.
Moreover, the housing sector including the hotels and the housing units work at the rate of 100 percent occupancy during the pilgrimage season and the season of Umrah.
Mustafa Kurdi, a director of a housing unit in Madinah said the Hajj season constitutes the best season for the housing sector.
Even taxi drivers become happy during the hajj and Umrah season as taxis are in high demand and ply frequently between holy places. They work around the clock transporting the pilgrims from one place to another, notably to the historical sites of Madinah.