Visa Charge: Malaysia's Tourism Ministry To Discuss With Foreign Ministry

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 25 (Bernama) -- The Tourism and Culture Ministry of Malaysia will hold talks with the Foreign Ministry on the new rates for visa charges for haj and umrah pilgrims, effective early this month. Its Deputy Minister Mas Ermieyati Samsuddin said the ministry was still waiting for feedback from the Foreign Ministry before taking further action. "The rates are a burden to companies operating umrah pilgrimages as well as to the pilgrims themselves. "However, the government has decided to abide by the regulations of the Saudi Arabian government so as not to create any problems for the sake of the relations between both countries," she said. She was speaking to reporters after officiating the 7th Umrah and Hajj International Tourism Fair 2016 organised by the Malaysian Bumiputera Tourism Operators Companies Association (Bumitra) here Monday. With the new rates, the visa charges would be 2,000 riyals (RM2,250) for pilgrims performing their second umrah for the Hijrah years 1435H, 1436H and 1437H. First time pilgrims will be exempted from the charge. On Oct 2, the media reported that the Saudi Arabian government would impose the new visa charges which were decided last month by the Cabinet, aimed at increasing non oil based revenue. Mas Ermieyati also urged the public to be careful when choosing umrah packages to avoid being cheated, and if they were, to lodge a complaint. "The cooperation from the public is very important because we cannot act if there are no complaints. The ministry always views this seriously in order to curb such cases which are becoming more common," she said. She said according to the ministry's latest statistics, from 2012 to September 2016, there were 72 recorded cases of fraud umrah packages with fines and compounds totaling US$86,693 (RM362,000). Mas Ermieyati also refuted allegations by taxi operators that Budget 2017 had adversely affected the tourism sector. "We understand that with the slow global economy, the government must take such steps. We are using the NBOS (National Blue Ocean Strategy) approach, especially those who are within the industry so that they will get returns when they play their roles," she said. --BERNAMA