DOHA: Several Haj contractors (Muqawils) in Qatar say that they would incur huge losses due to a drop in the number of Haj pilgrims this year.

They attribute the drop to the scare about swine flu created by exaggerated media reports as well as the alleged errors in the new online registration system introduced by the Haj Committee this year.

These authorised tour operators say that they were not able to take advantage of a rise in Qatar’s quota of pilgrims due to the lukewarm response from applicants. They would end up with huge losses since they have already booked accommodations in the holy sites in Saudi Arabia in numbers that exceed their actual quota.

“The quota will cover only 30 percent of our costs. We were anticipating to get 400 to 500 pilgrims as in the previous years, but it may come down to just 100,” said Ibrahim Al Ibrahim of the Al Taqwa group.

He said Muqawils in the A and B categories were the worst hit since the online registration system was in favour of the C category. The first two categories are dedicated for pilgrims travelling by air while the last category is for those travelling by road.

He said, many of the expatriate applicants, who were picked up through the online registration system were not actually available. “When we tried to contact them they were not available in the numbers provided by the Haj Committee. This happened due to the defects in the registration system. The Haj Committee should either revert to the old system or link the registration to the Ministry of Interior network to assure that the applications are genuine,” said Al Ibrahim.

The Qatari pilgrims were asked to approach the Muqawils directly and initially there was a good response from applicants. However, about 50 percent of them withdrew their applications mainly due to swine flu scare, he added.

He said many people cancelled their travel plans following reports that vaccination against seasonal flu and H1NI would be made mandatory for Haj pilgrims.

On the other hand, a majority of the expatriate applicants fell in the C category due the online registration system. Even those who were financially capable to travel by air chose to travel by road. Contractors in the A and B categories were hit hard by this method and it is too late now to correct this problem, he added.

The Haj Committee had re-opened the registration to fill the seats that remain vacant due to cancellations. The contractors were allowed to recommend names of the new applicants.