CAIRO – 16 July 2026: Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy approved the regulations, rules, and procedures governing Umrah (small pilgrimage) trips for the 1448 AH season, following their completion by the Supreme Committee for Umrah and Hajj.
This comes as part of the Ministry's commitment to ensuring the swift organization of the new season, enhancing the quality of services provided to Egyptian pilgrims, and strengthening the field and digital monitoring system from the moment a pilgrim signs their trip contract until their return home.
Among the most prominent provisions introduced for the first time are:
- Launching the "Rafeeq" electronic application for Egyptian pilgrims and tourism company supervisors.
- Tourism companies are obligated, upon contracting, to inform pilgrims or their families of the necessity to download the application, create a personal account for each pilgrim, and upload the contractual documents.
- Tourism companies are required to respond immediately to reports and notifications received through the application and all other official channels.
- Tourism companies are obligated to issue an identification card for each pilgrim and to include their data and trip details on their luggage.
- Tourism companies are prohibited from advertising or promoting Umrah programs without notifying the administration. The General Directorate of Religious Tourism will operate electronically and will require that the advertisement include all details of the Umrah program.
- Programs implemented from the 15th of Sha'ban until the 17th of Ramadan are exempted and extended to a maximum of 35 days.
- No company will be allowed to approve a new Umrah trip until 70 percent of its pilgrims have returned.
- No new trips will be approved during peak months until the company's trips have returned, and with a maximum of three trips remaining in the Kingdom.
- Airlines must provide suitable meals for pilgrims in the event of flight delays of up to six hours and must provide suitable accommodation if the delay exceeds this period.
- An integrated electronic system will track buses of all Umrah trips outside the Egyptian borders.
- Buses used in land Umrah trips should be of the 2022 model or of more recent models and should be technically sound.
- An integrated electronic system will be launched to evaluate the quality of services provided to pilgrims.
- The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities emphasizes the necessity for all tourism companies to adhere to all provisions, and urges citizens not to deal with brokers, intermediaries, or unlicensed entities.
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