Member of the Egyptian Travel Agents Association Basel El‑Sisi warned citizens Planning to perform Hajj and Umrah against dealing with unauthorized Hajj intermediaries and operators that promote their programs on social media without licenses.
El‑Sisi stated that the association has recently recorded a sharp increase of Unverified social media pages offering fraudulent Hajj packages, noting that this phenomenon intensifies during high seasons.
El‑Sisi also said that Egypt has more than 5,000 accredited tourism company offices and their branches, and that direct dealings with these offices safeguard citizens’ rights, protect them from fraud, and reduce financial costs by eliminating the extra fees imposed by intermediaries.
El‑Sisi added that supervision of social media pages is largely lacking, which has allowed some individuals and illegal entities to exploit citizens’ eager aspiration to perform Hajj by luring them with empty promises.
Moreover, El-Sisi advised citizens to take proactive steps to verify the credibility of companies, such as visiting the company’s actual headquarters to ensure the Ministry of Tourism license is prominently displayed, obtaining an official contract and documented financial receipts, or directly checking through the official website of the Ministry of Tourism to confirm that the company is listed among the accredited travel companies authorized to organize trips.
El‑Sisi concluded by stressing the importance of public awareness and full compliance with the Hajj laws and regulations, expressing hope for enhanced coordination between executive and security agencies to firmly confront intermediaries and fraudulent online operators, thereby safeguarding the safety, finances, and rights of Egyptian pilgrims.
🖋️Source: The National Media Authority Online Portal
