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Saudi Arabia suspends 2 Umrah agencies over accommodation lapse for pilgrims
This comes after a sweeping suspension of 1,800 foreign travel agencies for violations in service quality
- PUBLISHED: Sun 15 Feb 2026, 12:05 PM UPDATED: Sun 15 Feb 2026, 2:46 PM
Saudi Arabia has suspended two Umrah travel agencies for failing to provide accommodation services to a group of pilgrims.
The Kingdom on Saturday, February 14, 2026, announced that the agencies were suspended after it was found that they did not offer any accommodation to the pilgrims, who were coming to Saudi Arabia from Egypt.
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"Regulatory measures" have been taken against the firms and the agents who were contracted with them. The pilgrims were provided with accommodation, according to the Makkah Region Governorate.
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This comes after a sweeping suspension of 1,800 foreign travel agencies in the Umrah sector for violations in service quality. That particular crackdown gave the companies 10 days to fix the shortcoming found in their services, and only pertained to new visa issuance.
Saudi Arabia tracks pilgrims from entry to exit. Every aspect of travel, from visas and permits to transport and accommodation, is monitored in order to ensure smooth functioning, crowd control and safety of pilgrims.
Earlier, UAE travel agents said that Umrah agencies that only provide visa services and do not take care of hotel and transport bookings are getting flagged and suspended by Saudi authorities.
There are only certain hotels in the Kingdom that are approved for Umrah travel — pilgrims and agencies must stick to these when making bookings.
