KUALA LUMPUR: Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) said that offer letters to perform the Haj for the 1445 / 2024 season are in the final process and will be issued very soon.
TH Haj Executive Director Datuk Seri Syed Saleh Syed Abdul Rahman said that the announcement will be made very soon.
"The offer letter for the Haj will be issued in the very near future, it is still going through the final process.
"We will make an announcement about it," he said during the press conference in conjunction with the 2024 Haj, Umrah and Tourism Carnival here earlier today (Jan 15).
Also present was Bumiputera Tourism Operators Association of Malaysia (Bumitra Malaysia) president, Harun KC Ahmmu.
On the cost of performing the Haj for this season, Syed Saleh admitted that there will be an increase that will take place and this is out of Tabung Haji's control.
"Of course the cost of performing the Haj will go up each year and this is brought about by all sorts of aspects especially inflation, the implementation of the increase in the Value-Added Tax (VAT) rate in Saudi Arabia and the foreign exchange of currencies including that of the Ringgit, the Saudi Riyal and the American Dollar.
"This is all among the issues that will impact the cost of performing the Haj and it is out of TH's control," he said.
He also cleared up the confusion among the community about the difference between the payment and the cost of Haj.
"Please do not be confused, the cost of the Haj is the actual cost for a pilgrim to perform the Haj while the Haj payment is the rate charged to the pilgrims. These are two different things.
"For information, the cost for the Haj last year was RM30,850, but for this year, it is expected to be announced in the near future," he said.
Meanwhile he also informed that 25 local travel agencies, companies that have been granted the haj operator licence (PJH) issued by Lembaga Tabung Haji (TH) will continue to offer Rahmah Package for pilgrims at a price of below RM50,000.
He said that the rate involved was reasonable taking into account the current cost of the Haj which keeps on rising.
"TH has requested that all PJH holders offer the Rahmah Package like last year and Alhamdulillah they have responded favourably to continue in providing such an offer for the second time.
"If we look and see before this, PJH set the price according to the package that they provide and offer for prospective pilgrims, there were those up to RM200,000, some even reaching RM250,000.
"Therefore, TH wants PJH holders to also play a role to help future Haj pilgrims by providing packages at reasonable, affordable prices," he said.
Speaking on the organising of the PJH carnival that will be held for three days from this Friday onwards at the Movenpick Hotel and Convention Centre (MHCC) in Sepang, he said it is aimed to introduce PJH companies and agencies to prospective, future Haj pilgrims and all the packages on offer, that are provided.
He said that the carnival that will be held for the second time from this Friday onwards will be officiated by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Religious Affairs) Datuk Dr Mohd Na'im Mokhtar.
There will be 140 exhibitors including 25 PJH companies, as well as other exhibitors including companies such as Bank Islam, AMAL (Malaysia Airlines), Takaful Malaysia Berhad dan Saudi Tourism Authority.