Ways to Select Tour Operators for Umrah Packages in UK

Posted by Safeena Rahman on June 28th, 2019

Many of the Muslims residing in the United Kingdom dream of performing their Umrah every year. This Islamic pilgrimage is often called the 'lesser pilgrimage' as the major pilgrimage in Islam is Hajj, which is one of its five pillars and an obligation for every Muslim who is physically and financially capable for the journey. However, there are some differences between these two pilgrimages. Hajj is performed in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, while the lesser pilgrimage can be performed at any time of the year. Another difference is that Umrah involves lesser number of rituals.

The Umrah packages UK tour operators provide for Muslims of the country help them in fulfilling their dream of performing the lesser pilgrimage. These packages are no less than a boon for Muslims living in the UK, as earlier they had to depend on the travel agent in their neighbourhood for getting their journey to Makkah arranged. In the years that followed, many tour operators specialising in the religious tours of Hajj and Umrah came up in different parts of the country. Owing to an increase in competition among these tour operators, the cost of packages reduced to a considerable extent. Today, many of the Muslims are able to accomplish their lesser pilgrimage, as a result.

As the internet has become much more affordable and accessible in recent times, almost all the tour operators have their own websites. These sites help Muslims in the UK browse through their desired packages online and choose the one that suits their budget. Over the past few years, the use of smartphones has also increased to a great extent. In order to make their websites easily accessible to the smartphone users, the tour operators have now made their websites mobile-friendly. This has made it easier for the country’s Muslims to go through the packages on websites using their smartphones.

Upon searching online for packages on any of the popular search engines, the UK Muslims would get many options in packages as well as tour operators or travel companies that provide them. While one can choose the cheapest among the available packages for an affordable Umrah, it is absolutely necessary to ensure that the tour operators or travel companies offering them are authorised by Saudi Arabia’s Hajj Ministry. Although there are many tour operators in UK that offer packages for the lesser pilgrimage, not all of them may be authorised by the Hajj Ministry of Saudi Arabia.

Online reviews also play an important role in helping Muslims of the UK in deciding the right tour operator for booking a package for their Umrah. It would be a good idea to go through the experiences that the pilgrims had in the past with a particular travel agent. Based on the number of positive reviews, the pilgrims can go with the tour operator or travel company that has the most number of genuine positive reviews. The number of years that the tour operator has been in operation can also be a great factor for choosing the right one for booking a desired package.

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Safeena Rahman

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Safeena Rahman
Joined: August 4th, 2018
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