More than 7,700 people to Umra during school holidays

The Minister of Islamic Affairs Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed has said that more than 7,700 people would be going for Umra from December until January in line with the school holidays.

As per Minister Shaheem's post on X, 7,726 people will travel for Umra in December and January from Maldives. He wrote that the first group of pilgrims will travel for Umra this week.

A team from the Hajj Corporation have traveled to Mecca to settle arrangements for the pilgrims who are under their care. The first team under their care will leave on Saturday.

3,790 pilgrims under the care of the Hajj Corporation and private groups had gone for Umra during the previous midterm break.

There has been a surge of pilgrims going to Umra during school holidays. Last December saw around 6,000 pilgrims travel for Umra.

Umra expenses have relatively gone down. Most companies now offer an average of MVR 25,000 to MVR 29,000 per person in December. This sees a high number of people traveling with their children for pilgrimage.