Answer for Oral Question PL240

QUESTION

Yang Berhormat Pengiran Haji Isa bin Pengiran Haji Aliuddin

Yang Berhormat Pengiran Haji Isa bin Pengiran Haji Aliuddin asked Yang Berhormat Menteri Hal Ehwal Ugama to state whether a study had been conducted by the Ministry of Religious Affairs on Brunei umrah pilgrims using foreign flights from neighbouring countries compared with RB from their own country, to ensure that the value of umrah licences also benefits the country’s economic income.

ANSWER

Yang Berhormat Menteri Hal Ehwal Ugama

To date, the Ministry of Religious Affairs has not conducted a specific economic study comparing the use of foreign flights from neighbouring countries with the use of RB from Negara Brunei Darussalam.

Nevertheless, the Department of Hajj Affairs routinely receives travel information from local operators authorised to operate umrah packages. This information includes the names of pilgrims, travel itineraries and the airlines used.

The primary purpose of collecting this information is to safeguard the safety and welfare of pilgrims and to enable assistance to be coordinated based on accurate records in the event of an emergency in the Holy Land. Therefore, the data concerned constitute administrative and operational records, and are not data specifically collected to measure economic impact or contribution.

It should also be clarified that the records of the Department of Hajj Affairs only cover pilgrims who use the services of authorised local umrah operators. They do not include individuals or groups who arrange their travel privately without using any local umrah operator.

Accordingly, the available statistics cannot yet be regarded as a comprehensive representation of all Brunei umrah pilgrims or used as a definitive basis for assessing their impact on the national economy. Nevertheless, within the scope of the records available for the period from January to July 2026, a total of 1,622 umrah pilgrims were recorded through 36 authorised local operators.

Of this total, 1,577 individuals, or 97.2 per cent, used RB services. This comprised 1,083 individuals who used direct flights from Negara Brunei Darussalam to Saudi Arabia and 494 individuals who travelled in transit through a third country. Meanwhile, 45 individuals, or 2.8 per cent, used foreign flights via Miri, Sarawak.

These statistics show that, among pilgrims who used authorised local operators, the use of RB was very high. However, these figures indicate the use of airlines and do not yet constitute a measurement of the total income or economic value generated for the country. For information, there are two forms of authorisation involved:

a. A Travel Agency Licence is issued by the Tourism Development Department; b. while the Ministry of Religious Affairs, through the Department of Hajj Affairs, grants specific authorisation to operate Hajj and Umrah package services.

The Ministry’s core considerations in granting such authorisation are the safety and welfare of pilgrims, as well as the operators’ compliance with the stipulated requirements. Authorisation granted to local operators indeed creates opportunities for business activities and the provision of services within the country. However, the actual value of their contribution to the national economy, including the air-fare component, has not been calculated through a comprehensive study.

The choice of airline is also influenced by several factors, including package prices, seat availability and the suitability of the travel itinerary. Therefore, the economic benefits of the umrah industry cannot be measured solely based on the airline used, but must take into account the entire service chain and the portion of expenditure that actually remains within the economy of Negara Brunei Darussalam.

If the economic benefits of the umrah industry are to be assessed more comprehensively, more complete data and coordination with the Tourism Development Department, RB and relevant agencies in the economic and transport sectors would be required.