THE Muslim community here is pushing for the Department of Tourism and National Commission for Muslim Filipinos’ (NCMF) plan to enable Saudi Airlines to have four chartered flights between Davao City and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia during the Hajj next year.
Marilou Ampuan, founder of the Mindanao Islamic Chamber of Commerce and Industry and chair of the Halal Committee of the Tourism Congress of the Philippines told Sun.Star Davao in a phone interview that the proposed plan though has yet to be finalized.
“We will wait the update after Hajj 2016 report,” she said.
Ampuan added that the NCMF officers are expected to come back to Davao City first week of October.
“If pushed, the delegates of the annual pilgrimage will save some five percent of their total expenses as they do not need to stopover in Manila,” she said.
In a report, around P250,000 to P300,000 (including food and transportation) is what one delegate needs when travelling to Saudi Arabia during Hajj.
The hajj is a five-day religious pilgrimage to Mecca and nearby holy sites in Saudi Arabia that all Muslims, physically and financially able must perform at least once in a lifetime.
For this year, some 1.3 million people from 164 different countries are in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, performing the Islamic religious pilgrimage.
Annually, Filipinos travelling to Saudi Arabia during Hajj is estimated at 8,000 delegates.
Last August 22, a total of 60 delegates from the city flew to Saudi Arabia on board a Philippine Airlines flight.
Ampuan said that with the plan, Davao will be the hub of Hajj delegates in Mindanao.
“This connectivity will only be conducted during Hajj to Mecca,’ she said adding that based on the plan, it would service from the city to Jeddah and Medina in Saudi Arabia.
The proposed connectivity is eyed to also boost the tourism arrivals in the city.
She added that, with this, Davao tourism stakeholders should be bent on highlighting and encouraging tourists to visit Davao as the city has a number of Halal-certified establishments. (ASP)