Will organizing Hajj and Umrah pilgrimages be entrusted to tour operators?

Organization of Hajj and Umrah journeys is not currently being entrusted to tour operators, but the work in this field has begun, proposals are being drafted. The responsibility for organizing pilgrimage trips is still under the authority of the Committee for Religious Affairs at the Cabinet of Ministers. Kun.uz correspondent reports.

“The delegation, headed by Deputy PM Aziz Abdukhakimov, visited Saudi Arabia to discuss the issues of organizing Hajj and Umrah journeys. There are some security and other issues. In fact, pilgrims are not allowed to complete Umrah or Hajj journeys by the State Committee for Tourism Development. It is carried out by the Committee for Religious Affairs,” deputy chairman of the State Committee for Tourism Development Ulugbek Kosimkhodjayev said.

According to him, this issue still remains unsolved.

Ibrahim Barnoev, head of the department for implementing innovations and smart-tourism, said that the Committee is currently working on proposals related to Hajj and Umrah journeys.

“At the moment, the Committee for Tourism Development has been developing proposals on this issue. Then the proposals will be forwarded to the Committee for Religious Affairs and a decision will be made by them,” he said.

The Public Council under the Committee is also engaged in this issue. Chairman of the Council Tokhir Soliev added that the Public Council has received some proposals from tour agencies.

“We work together with some experts and prepare a proposal on this matter. They will be assembled and submitted to the Tourism Committee, and then we will forward them to the Committee for Religious Affairs. This is a very serious issue, it is not just tourism, but also a security issue. In my opinion, the solution to this problem cannot be achieved quickly, but the process has already been started,” Tokhir Soliev noted.

He emphasized that the experience of Muslim countries such as Turkey, Malaysia and Indonesia is being studied.