Islamic Travel Mart – the first-ever B2B platform featuring Haj, Umrah, Ziyarat and Hala travel operators and agents under one roof – began for two days at the World Trade Centre here today. The ITM is a gathering point for all stakeholders in Islamic tourism.

Inaugurating the event, Vinod Tawde, Maharashtra Minister for Minority Development and Wakf, said though the ITM had been organized independently, it was an important show and the Central and State Governments in India should also organize this event jointly. “We will do so at the next Islamic Travel Mart as every Muslim desires to go for Haj and Umrah, and if we can ensure good facilities, easy access and make their trips viable, then its good. We need to think about how the Government can help in this regard,” he said while urging the ITM to encourage other forms of tourism also.

Dr Maqsood Ahmad Khan, CEO, Haj Committee, India said that this ITM would help reduce the chain of expenditure of people going for Haj and Umrah by directly providing necessary services to them.

G Ibrahim, Managing Director and CMO, Islamic Travel Mart, said around 1,500 visitors are expected during this show which featured 30 stalls with multiple staff to attend to the numerous queries. The ITM would continue to be solely held in Mumbai since it is the hub of industry, though other cities in India would highlight ITM pavilions being organized there, he said.

Noting that middlemen should be eliminated from the Haj and Umrah process for related travellers through the ITM, Ibrahim also urged the Government to remove the tax on these pilgrims that they had to bear for such religious pilgrimages. More than half million people travel annually for Haj from South Asia, including nearly 170,000 from India alone, and these numbers keep rising greatly each year, he said, adding that countries like Turkey, Jordan could also be participants in ‘Halal’ tourism at this event later.

The consuls-generals of Indonesia and Iran were also present at the event.

Meanwhile, the participating ITM members expressed eagerness to hold such shows regularly in assisting Haj and Umrah pilgrims.

Hasan Patel, Director, ATLAS Umrah, said his company had been exploring this participation opportunity through the ITM, where they could tie up with companies that could provide interest-free EMIs and increase affordability of UMRAH travel packages.

“Today, we are launching India’s first UMRAH booking portal, while also providing travel agents an opportunity to sell our products nationwide. We have come out with eight products in tour packages presently and we are looking at launching a few more related products on a monthly basis. What is unique is that our system is configured to ensure its scalability while keeping the pilgrims in the loop. When any interaction/booking is made on the portal, the pilgrim is intimated about related travel details through our ATLAS experience,” he said, adding that the ATLAS Umrah portal enables travel agents to search, choose and sell a variety of tour packages, besides also its robust mid-office managing post-sale bookings.

Arfaat Contractor of Classic World Travels pointed out that there is no strict law relating to the Haj and Umrah scenario today, that would ban any individuals presenting themselves fraudulently as agents who — despite having no basic knowledge or experience in this regard – end up creating misleading travel packages that do not even meet the related net costs.

“On the contrary, such fake agents promote lower rate packages – which is actually not practical – and then create panic because of their being +under-the-table,+ shady characters,” he noted, adding “Due to such fake practices, genuine industry people like even us have to bear the brunt of such problems. Genuine licenced agents like us should be highlighted in this regard.”