TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Religious Affairs appealed to the public not to be easily tempted by travel agencies offering cheap hajj and umrah travel packages as it is feared to be a scam.

“We urge the public not to fall for cheap hajj [travel package]. Make sure of the services they offer,” the ministry’s Director of Special Umrah and Hajj Services, Jaja Jaelani, said in Jakarta, on Sunday, March 24.

Jaja acknowledged that there are many offers for the public to perform the hajj pilgrimage without queuing, while the ministry has arranged departure quotas for both regular and special pilgrims.

Therefore, the public needs to be vigilant as there have been many cases of travel agencies failing to provide tickets and visas, causing pilgrims to cancel their departures to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. There have also been cases of pilgrims being stranded because travel agencies did not provide services in Saudi.

One step to avoid being scammed is to check the license of the travel agencies through the Integrated Management System for Special Umrah and Hajj (Siskopatuh).

“At present, there are no less than 2,573 travel agencies offering umrah services to the Holy Land. Don't be tempted by cheap packages. You can check whether the travel agency is licensed or not,” Jaja remarked.

He mentioned that the ministry had sanctioned or terminated travel agencies that were found to have neglected pilgrims. “We have dismissed three travel agencies. One was temporarily suspended, while the other two were blocked,” he said.

ANTARA

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