WebBeds, Agoda Rush to Serve New Generation of Muslim Pilgrims to Saudi
Skift Take
Saudi Arabia is expanding its infrastructure to support 15 million Umrah visitors a year by 2020, and 30 million by 2030. WebBeds and Agoda are two major Asian players that are jostling for position in the promising niche.
Major Asian players WebBeds and Agoda are making swift moves to disrupt Umrah pilgrimage travel bookings as Saudi Arabia unveils a vision to support millions more Muslim travelers to the kingdom.
For one, WebBeds has formed UmrahHolidays International in a joint venture with undisclosed partners in the Middle East. The bedbanks, part of Australian-listed company Webjet, has also announced UmrahHolidays’ two exclusive partnerships in China, with Mafengwo for direct online consumer sales and major wholesaler Haoqiao for retail agency distribution.
Umrah refers to pilgrims visiting the two most sacred Muslim cities in the world, Mecca and Medina in Saudi Arabia, at any time of the year except during the compulsory Hajj.
Agoda last December signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah “to explore ways to use technology to manage the anticipated increase in guests to the kingdom and make accommodation reservations more accessible, easier, faster and secure,” its statement said.
Agoda has also launched a dedicated multilingual and multicurrency Umrah site that has been certified by the ministry.
Another online travel agency, Dubai-based Holidayme, which raised $16 million in funding last November led by Malaysia’s Gobi
