Umrah & Hajj operations glossary

The Saudi government ministry that regulates Hajj and Umrah. It licenses Saudi Umrah companies, publishes each season's calendar, runs the Nusuk platforms and measures companies and external agents on performance.

Saudi Arabia's official platform for pilgrims, run under the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah. Pilgrims use the Nusuk app and websites for permits and services, such as the Umrah permit and a visit to the Rawdah. Nusuk Masar, Nusuk Umrah and Nusuk Hajj are parts of the same family.

The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah platform at masar.nusuk.sa where Saudi Umrah companies, qualified external agents, Hajj Affairs Offices and licensed service providers sign contracts with each other. Since June 2025 an Umrah visa depends on a housing contract documented there.

Also called: Masar Nusuk, masar.nusuk.sa

The Ministry's direct channel, launched in August 2025, through which pilgrims outside Saudi Arabia can buy an Umrah package and visa without an external agent. The Ministry still keeps external agents as one of the approved channels.

A company licensed by the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to provide Umrah services inside Saudi Arabia, such as housing, transport and ground services. Overseas agencies sell Umrah as its contracted external agents.

Also called: Umrah service provider

A travel agency licensed in its own country that sells Umrah as the contracted agent of a Saudi Umrah company. It cannot provide services inside Saudi Arabia itself, and it qualifies and signs its contract on Nusuk Masar.

Also called: Overseas Umrah agent

The Saudi visa issued for performing Umrah. The Ministry lists three approved channels to apply — an authorized external agent, the Nusuk platform and the Saudi visa platform — and issuance depends on a documented housing contract with a licensed provider.

A dated authorisation booked through Nusuk to perform Umrah. Holders of a multiple-entry Umrah visa need a separate Nusuk service package and permit for every visit.

The Ministry's annual Umrah calendar, counted in Hijri years, with fixed dates for the first and last visa issuance, the last entry and the final departure. Agencies plan contracts, allotments and departures inside it.

Also called: 1448 AH season

A country's official Hajj mission, which contracts housing, transport and other services in Saudi Arabia for that country's pilgrims on Nusuk Masar, within fixed government deadlines.

The number of Hajj pilgrims Saudi Arabia allocates to each country. Many countries divide their quota between government schemes and licensed private operators under their own Hajj policy.

The licence an agency needs in its own country to sell Umrah or Hajj — for example registration with the Ministry of Religious Affairs in Pakistan, a PPIU licence in Indonesia, a MOTAC Umrah licence in Malaysia or an ATOL licence in the UK for packages that include flights. It is separate from the Saudi contract.

The Grand Mosque in Makkah, around the Kaaba. Makkah hotels are compared by the walking distance from the hotel entrance to its nearest numbered gate.

Also called: The Grand Mosque, Haram

The Prophet's Mosque in Madinah, the second stop of most Umrah itineraries. Its gates are numbered too, and some are marked for women only.

Also called: The Prophet's Mosque

One of the boundary points around Makkah where pilgrims must enter ihram before going on to perform Umrah or Hajj. Itineraries and flight timings have to allow for it.

The sacred state a pilgrim enters at the miqat for Umrah or Hajj, and the simple garments worn in it.

Walking around the Kaaba seven times, a core rite of Umrah and Hajj.

Walking seven times between the hills of Safa and Marwah inside Masjid al-Haram, performed after Tawaf.

An area inside the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah. Visiting it requires a permit booked through Nusuk, which group schedules have to fit around.

Also called: Al-Rawdah al-Sharifah

Visits to historic and religious sites in and around Makkah and Madinah, run as scheduled group excursions alongside hotel dates and permit times.

A close male relative whom a woman cannot marry, such as a father, brother, son or husband, who may accompany her. Saudi Arabia no longer requires one for adult women on Umrah, but some home-country Hajj rules still do, so agencies record mahram links in pilgrim profiles for registration, document checks and rooming.

The rail line linking Makkah and Madinah via Jeddah, an alternative to road transfers for the intercity leg. Train seats have to be booked against the group's hotel dates.

Also called: Haramain train

The product an agency sells: a set number of nights split between Makkah and Madinah with hotels, transport, visa and ground services, with or without international flights. It is priced per pilgrim.

A package without international flights — visa, hotels, transport and ground services only — often sold by wholesalers to agencies that issue air tickets themselves.

Also called: Land arrangements

A dated instance of a package, with its own flights and hotel allocation. Customers book a departure, not the package itself.

A block of rooms a Makkah or Madinah hotel holds for an agency on specific nights and terms, including the rate, meal basis and a release date for unsold rooms.

Also called: Room block

The date by which an agency must return unsold rooms from an allotment to the hotel without paying for them. Sales are reviewed against release dates every week.

Also called: Cut-off date

How many pilgrims share a room — double, triple or quad. Umrah packages are priced per person by occupancy, and room capacity is planned the same way.

The meals included in a hotel contract, such as room only, breakfast, half board or full board. It is part of each allotment's terms.

Also called: Board basis

The list that assigns every pilgrim in a group to a room, sent to the hotel before arrival. It is built from verified pilgrim records and respects occupancy and mahram relationships.

A block of airline seats held for a group at an agreed fare, with deadlines for passenger names and ticketing. Unused seats go back to the airline.

Also called: Air block, Group fare

A system through which travel agencies search and book airline inventory and fares — the main ones are Amadeus, Sabre and Travelport.

Also called: Global distribution system

The reservation record that holds a booking's passengers, flights and contact details in an airline or GDS system.

Also called: Passenger name record

The IATA standard document for charges other than the air fare, such as extra baggage or service fees.

Also called: Electronic miscellaneous document

A distribution model in which a principal operator sells Umrah packages through resellers and local agents, each adding its own margin, instead of selling only directly to pilgrims.

In UmrahCore's model, the three tiers of a B2B network: the Master owns inventory, Resellers build their own networks, and Agents sell to pilgrims. Permissions and prices cascade downward from each tier to the ones below it.

Also called: Sub-agent

The net rate is the price a tier receives from the tier above; the markup is the margin it adds before selling on. In UmrahCore's model, a tier cannot sell below the price it inherited or see the margins above it.

A website where agents log in to book a wholesaler's packages, hotels and services at their net rates, with their own bookings, balance and customers kept private.

Software or a booking portal that runs under the agency's own brand and domain instead of the vendor's.

Back-office software that Umrah agencies and tour operators use to run packages, departures, bookings, pilgrim documents, visas, flights, hotels, transport, finance and agent sales in one place. It serves the businesses selling Umrah, not pilgrims booking alone.

Also called: Umrah software, Umrah ERP

Back-office software for licensed Hajj operators: pilgrim registration and documents, quota seats, packages, instalments, flights, rooms and groups, plus the Saudi-side contracts made on Nusuk Masar.

One software platform serving many agencies, each in its own sealed workspace, so no agency can see another's pilgrims, prices or accounts.

Also called: Tenant isolation

The MRZ (machine-readable zone) is the two coded lines at the bottom of a passport's photo page. OCR software reads it to fill pilgrim records without retyping, which reduces the name and number mismatches that fail visa applications.

An append-only record of who changed what and when, so bookings, prices and payments can be traced afterwards.