UAE punishes deceitful haj travel agencies

UAE punishes deceitful haj travel agencies

By Taieb Mahjoub

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AFP): Moslem pilgrims, who in
centuries past feared being ambushed by bandits as their camel
caravans trudged through the desert to Mecca, these days have to
be wary of disreputable travel agencies.

In the past few years there have been reports of tour
operators lodging pilgrims in crowded apartment rooms instead of
the hotels advertised, and of putting them in buses that break
down in the intense desert heat.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has taken steps to protect
those making this year's pilgrimage to the holy cities of Mecca
and Medina which culminates on May 10.

The UAE's 60 Muqawilunes, the agencies which organize
pilgrimage or haj tours, have been ordered to set aside funds
which could be used to settle any complaints filed by pilgrims.

The government has also launched a media campaign against
dishonest tour operators.

Eleven agencies had their licenses withdrawn after failing to
"fulfill their contracts with the pilgrims" during the last haj,
an official with the UAE's religious affairs ministry told AFP.

For 6,500 dirhams (nearly US$1,767), the travel agency
promises to provide the pilgrim with the plane trip from the UAE
to Saudi Arabia, food and board, as well as transportation
between the holy sites in Mecca and Medina.

For those traveling by road the trip costs 3,500 dirhams
($950), a Muqawil official said.

An expatriate in the Gulf Arab state of Bahrain who made the
pilgrimage last year said that buses and their air conditioners
often broke down and left passengers to endure the suffocating
desert heat.

"The pilgrim is cheated as soon as he arrives in Saudi Arabia
where he has to pay a tax of 440 riyals (more than $110) that the
Muqawil is supposed to have taken care of," he added.

Then "the hotel promised in the brochures turns out to be an
apartment where four to six people are crowded into a room," he
said.

A travel agent contacted from Dubai said some end up sleeping
in the open air or in mosques and have to wait days before they
can reach their tour representative to complain.

Through cheating, "a tour operator can make a net profit of
$40,000 from each group of 100 pilgrims," according to an
economist on a pilgrimage.