KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 10 — The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC) will be organising Training of Trainers (TOT) sessions for all licensed umrah travel operators under the ministry on the new umrah standard operating procedures (SOPs) announced by the government recently.
In a statement today, it said the sessions would be organised with the cooperation of the Ministry of Health (MOH) so that the tour agencies could brief pilgrims before their departure to perform umrah.
It said the move was made following the government's decision to enforce new SOPs on umrah activities starting February 14.
According to the SOPs, operators are required to appoint a person in charge (PIC) if they are handling 40 worshippers and above and the PIC will have to manage the pilgrims at the international gateway for a group with less than 40 pilgrims.
In addition, the government has made it mandatory for pilgrims to get their Covid-19 booster shots and allowed them to undergo mandatory quarantine at home without having to submit the Home Quarantine Application (HQA).
Umrah trips were temporarily postponed starting January 8 due to the spread of the Covid-19 cases related to the Omicron variant but were resumed from February 8 with the implementation of stricter SOPs.
— Bernama
