On April 22, Uzbekistan repatriated 580 of its citizens from Saudi Arabia on charter flights. The group had been stranded during their umrah pilgrimage, reportedly due to the failure of travel agencies to deliver promised services.
The incident was reported by the national state TV channel, which warned citizens against using unlicensed tour agencies for pilgrimage trips. Over the past year, Tashkent has been working to control umrah pilgrimages, although it denies rumors of re-establishing a state monopoly over the sector.
A significant majority of Uzbekistan’s population – estimated at 88 to 94 percent – identify as Muslim. This number may be somewhat inflated, as for some, Islam serves more as a cultural identity than a religious one. Still, practising Muslims in the country take their faith seriously, and under President Shavkat Mirziyoyev’s more relaxed governance, religious practices have become increasingly visible and embedded in daily life.
Umrah is one such practice. While not obligatory like the hajj, umrah is a recommended pilgrimage that can be undertaken at any time of the year. For decades after independence, the Uzbek government maintained a strict monopoly over both hajj and umrah travel – which was always organized by the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan and the Committee of Religious Affairs. As a result, people used to wait years for their turn and priority was often given to the elderly. This began to shift in 2022, when the state allowed private tour companies to start organizing umrah trips. By August 2023, the monopoly was fully lifted.
The liberalization of the market triggered a boom in the umrah travel industry, with hundreds of tour agencies entering the scene – some offering packages at extremely low prices. In an effort to keep costs down, the quality of services often suffered. Nonetheless, this shift made the pilgrimage more accessible to a wider segment of the population, even enabling some to perform umrah multiple times. In 2023, Uzbek tour agencies organized umrah travel for 43,000 people. The packages by local Uzbek tour agencies became so cheap and popular that citizens of neighboring Tajikistan also often use Uzbek tour agents.
Although Tashkent has allowed private tour agencies to organize umrah trips, pilgrimages are still also arranged by the Committee for Religious Affairs and the Muslim Board of Uzbekistan. However, these officially organized tours tend to be several hundred dollars more expensive and typically last 10 days. In contrast, private agencies often offer 14-day packages at the same price or less, with some also catering to wealthier clients through luxury tour options. For many low income families, the choice is obvious.
The extremely liberal market approach, however, was short-lived. By the fall of 2023, new demands were placed on tour agencies organizing umrah trips, including a requirement for agencies to have at least $100,000 in their bank accounts. In July 2024, Tashkent officially classified the organization of umrah tours as a separate category of licensed activity. Licenses previously granted to private tour agencies for an indefinite period were set to expire by October 2024. The administrative penalty for operating without the new license was set at 68 million Uzbek soms (approximately $5,500 at the time).
The formal explanation for the stricter licensing policy was the negligent service of private tour agencies in organizing umrah pilgrimages. Reports indicated that over 13,000 pilgrims were stranded, facing issues such as arriving in Saudi Arabia without hotel reservations or lacking return flights. Additionally, several thousand others were deported for violating entry rules. In response, the new licensing requirements for umrah included stricter conditions, such as a mandatory $1,000,000 in reserve funds, a prohibition on offering services to minors, and a ban on organizing pilgrimages through third countries. This led to a sharp decrease in the number of licensed private tour companies, from 77 to just 12.
Starting in the fall of 2024, news reports began widely covering legal cases against tour agencies offering services without a license or scamming people under false pretenses. The most prominent case involved two local private companies, with over 2,500 victims and damages estimated at over $2 million. In the first three months of 2025, 34 criminal cases had been opened, and 53 tour agencies had their operations shut down for organizing pilgrimages without a license.
Given the scale of these incidents and their extensive coverage in both local and national media, it is likely that further strict measures will be introduced. Tashkent is already set to develop an online portal with an electronic queue for individuals wishing to undertake hajj and umrah, with access likely limited to licensed tour companies.
Between mid-March and April 7, the Committee for Religious Affairs accepted applications for licenses, though the results are still pending. So far, only 12 private companies are legally authorized to organize umrah trips. Given that Uzbekistan has a population of 37.5 million, the majority of whom are Muslims, this number is quite small. In the past couple of years, the number of people going for umrah and hajj has increased dramatically, and despite the growing scrutiny, many ordinary Muslims will likely continue choosing affordable tour agencies, even if they are unlicensed, over years of waiting and paying higher prices.