Pakistani travel platform Bookme has been formally recognised as a strategic partner by Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Hajj and Umrah for enabling fully automated, instant Umrah visa issuance — the first such arrangement under the Ministry’s OTA Innovation Program. The agreement was signed at the Umrah and Ziyarah Forum 2026 in Madinah, in the presence of Minister of Hajj and Umrah Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah and senior ministry leadership.
The solution, implemented in collaboration with Bookme, the Ministry, and Saudi national digital infrastructure provider Elm Company, allows Pakistani pilgrims to obtain Umrah visas directly within the Bookme platform through a process that is end-to-end automated and integrated in real time with Saudi government visa issuance systems. There is no manual processing, no physical documentation, and no requirement for in-person visits. The system went live during the final ten days of Ramadan 2026, during which visas were issued through the platform.
The integration is designed to reduce reliance on traditional intermediaries, lowering costs for consumers while offering market-driven pricing across hotels, tours, and Ziyarah experiences. Pakistan is among the largest source markets globally for Umrah pilgrims, and the introduction of direct digital visa access is intended to improve both accessibility and transparency for that community.
Bookme operates across five markets and entered Saudi Arabia through the Special Investment Facilitation Council’s venture expansion initiative, with the company’s Saudi expansion supported by Pakistan’s IT ministry delegation. Bookme Founder and CEO Faizan Aslam received the ministerial recognition on stage at the forum’s opening ceremony.
Editor’s Note: This integration of a Pakistani OTA directly into Saudi sovereign visa infrastructure is a notable example of Pakistan’s technology export ambitions translating into government-level digital connectivity with the Gulf — a corridor MEA Tech Watch will continue to track. Watch whether the OTA Innovation Program extends the same real-time visa integration to platforms operating in other large Umrah source markets such as Indonesia, India, and Bangladesh.
