Apparently, Saudi Arabia’s Pilgrimage Platform Nusuk Hajj Has Some Issues
As the time to complete one of the five pillars of Islam approaches, Muslims from around the world head to the internet to express their concern with the Saudi ministry on the recently streamlined website Nusuk Hajj to book their Hajj package.
To summarize, in November of 2022, the Saudi Tourism Authority announced an official website to plan visitors’ trips to Makkah and Madinah. To quote the official website, “Nusuk aims to improve the experience of traveling to Makkah and Madinah and streamline the Umrah [and Hajj] process for Muslims worldwide.”
According to Nusuk Hajj, the website has facilitated nearly 45.5K people purchasing a package- an additional 31% increase in seats. It allocated nearly 32K group flights and 11.2K individual flights.
This year was the second year that Nusuk Hajj was in operation, controlling each step of the process, from visa applications to hajj packages offered by authorized service providers to flights into Jeddah. While the idea reveals novelty, the execution, however, persisted in many glitches and alarming concerns.
Shazia Rajan, an American traveling to Hajj this year voiced some of her concerns with the process.
“Booking the Hajj process this year opened my eyes to the inconsistency and hardship one had to face,” Rajan states. She mentioned that the process of preparing oneself for Hajj is a daunting task already. But Nusuk, instead of streamlining or making the process more efficient, did the complete opposite.
“The struggle of repeatedly trying to get our visa applications approved, dealing with frustrating OTP errors, and enduring hours of anticipation before each package release has made me and several people scared to attempt this journey,” Rajan recounts.
Rajan isn’t alone in her frustrations. The Nusuk Hajj Facebook page is flooded with comments voicing frustrations on the website interface, lack of communication, and long wait times to enter the site. Most recently, applicants are struggling to get their excess money refunded and get in contact with their tour guides. With a little over a month before the trip, Hajjis are left with little to no guidance.
Yacine Nicola, a top fan, comments under one of their posts, “…You have been trial testing for the last 3 years… after taking ownership of the Hajj process! Some have been saving for years and some will not make it for next year, let alone the stress that we have to go through this frustrating process… not worthy of the Saudi reputation!”
Fareed Y Ahmed is leading a team of volunteers helping Muslims across North America and Europe with the Hajj process. He is also leading his own tour. Ahmed is hopeful of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah (MoHU) and their ability to take feedback to make changes for further years.
He notes that the website is a lot easier, even though there are user interface improvements needed, just like any other website. His perspective is unique to Hujjaj, who has a different understanding of the website and its intricacies.
“[We all must] increase awareness among our communities of the change in the process and at an individual level, be available to help others with the process, especially anyone who’s not comfortable with websites and online tools,” Ahmed states.
And aid is a common theme amongst the Hajj volunteer group chats that sprout up over the first few months of 2024. Thousands of Muslims got together from around the world in WhatsApp chats to communicate information and notes from seminars and Q&A sessions on Nusuk’s interface.
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