Pèlerins bloqués : comment le conflit au Moyen-Orient secoue les agences de voyages à Dakar
The Israeli-American attacks on Iran are causing turmoil among travel agencies in Dakar. In the midst of Ramadan, a period of high demand for Umrah (the lesser pilgrimage), the sector is experiencing significant turbulence.
Interviewed by L'Observateur, Hourèye Thiam of the Masha Allah Pilgrimage agency described a climate of "genuine psychosis." The closure of strategic hubs, particularly in Dubai, has led to the cancellation of numerous flights. Even more worrying, she emphasized, is the wave of cancellations: frightened by the instability in the region, pilgrims are abandoning their journeys, often at the cost of non-refundable booking fees.
The losses for private tour operators could amount to several hundred million CFA francs, according to the daily newspaper of the Futurs Médias (GFM) group. The same source reports that while some airlines, such as Turkish Airlines, are maintaining their flights, other industry giants like Emirates and Qatar Airways have suspended several flights. As a result, groups of pilgrims are stranded in Saudi Arabia due to a lack of return flights, while others have had their departures postponed indefinitely.
For Baba Guèye, vice-president of the National Network of Private Tour Operators for Hajj and Umrah in Senegal (Renophus), contacted by GFM, this situation revives memories of the shock caused by the 2020 pandemic. Even though contracts obligate companies to "offer alternatives" in case of disruptions, security uncertainty and financial pressure are weakening the entire Umrah economy. In Dakar, agencies and pilgrims alike are now anxiously watching the skies, anxiously awaiting developments in a conflict whose repercussions they are directly experiencing.
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