Umrah visitors take time out to relax at the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah.

Hotel and transport costs have shot up as more people flock to Madinah to visit the Prophet’s Mosque.

Due to the high demand, the hotels have increased their rates 10-fold or more, with prices as high as SR35,000 for three nights or SR100,000 for five days.

Mohammed Ali booked two hotel rooms for himself and his father at a nearby hotel in Madinah before reaching the Kingdom a week ago. However, when he arrived he was told the rooms were not available.

“Most of the hotels were fully booked and we couldn’t find a suitable place to stay. Many people who had booked through Internet companies such as Booking.com could not get rooms. We found the prices of hotels in Madinah very high,” he said.

Another visitor, Nawaz Khan, 84, also had similar problems despite having a confirmed booking. “After a lot of searching I found a hotel 10 km away from the Prophet’s Mosque at a cost of SR2,000 for four days, but I couldn’t walk such a long distance.”

“I later found a hotel which 13 minutes’ walk from the Prophet’s Mosque, but due to my old age I am having to take a taxi every day, which is charging me SR15 to SR20 for this short distance. Going to the mosque three to four times a day costs me a lot,” he said.

Another visitor Mozammel Haque said that the hotels are charging SR18,000 to SR100,000 when they normally charge SR5,000 to SR7,000, causing trouble for the visitors traveling from abroad for Umrah.

Yasir Hasan, a worker at a local hotel, said the hotels increased their prices due to high demand to be in the city for the Prophet’s birthday. They wanted to cash in, he said.

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