Gov’t urged to negotiate with S. Arabia to lift road travel ban on pilgrims

AMMAN — The Jordan Society of Travel and Tourism Agents (JSTA) has called for government support to negotiate with the Saudi authorities to allow Jordanian Hajj and umrah pilgrims to travel to Saudi Arabia by road rather than by air.

The Hajj is the greater Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and umrah is the lesser Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca.

“Eighty-five per cent of Jordanian pilgrims prefer to travel to Saudi Arabia by road as it is financially convenient,” Kamal Abu Theyab, spokesperson of the religious tourism committee at the JSTA told The Jordan Times.

Abu Theyab added that in 2019, a total of 200,000 pilgrims travelled to Saudi Arabia. However, during this year’s season only around 300-400 pilgrims have so far travelled, he added.

Abu Theyab said that the number of pilgrims has decreased not only due to the ban on road travel, but also because of COVID-19 travel restrictions.

Saudi authorities’ road travel ban does not specifically target Jordanian pilgrims, but is part of new restrictions imposed on all travellers, he said.

As there is no indication of Saudi Arabia lifting the ban on cross-border road travel, according to Theyab, he urged pilgrims to book through accredited travel agencies that do not give false hopes about lifting the road travel ban. 

“The demand for air travel to Saudi Arabia by Jordanian pilgrims is nothing compared to road travel,” Ahmad Abu Helaleh, the owner of a travel agency, told The Jordan Times.