Refleksi : Di Indonesia harga sembako meningkat menjelang Ramadhan, di Makkah harga bermalam di hotel juga tidak ketinggalan naik. Jadi hari raya agama sangat baik bagi laba para pebisnis, laba bisa dilipatgandakan. Hukum berdasarkan wahyu Allah tidak diberlakukan oleh pebisnis beriman, tetapi hukum dagang duniawi atas prinsip permintaan dan penawaran diaplikasikan.
Dunia ini memang bergairah ajaib dalam menarik fulus sekalipun hari raya agama. http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MzI2MDgxNzM4 High Umrah prices caused by hotels in Makkah Published Date: August 03, 2010 By Ahmad Saeid, Staff Writer KUWAIT: A number of travel agents in Kuwait have blamed the reported steep rise in the prices of Ramadan Umrah packages this year on an increase in accommodation prices in Makkah. The prices rose noticeably prior to the holy month of Ramadan, when Umrah is seen as being especially important in Islam. The agents in Kuwait said that the exorbitant hotel tariffs are causing Umrah prices to skyrocket, explaining that the hoteliers may be attempting to compensate for the losses they incurred during last year's Umrah season, caused by the fears over the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic. Adel Al-Najjar from the Abraj Al-Kuwait travel agency said that the demand this year is clearly higher than last year, with the prices following this increased demand. "Last year big losses were incurred due to the swine flu pandemic, and this year prices have gone very high; while everyone is blaming us for that, they don't know that we have to increase prices, we can't do anything about it - these are the prices as they come from Makkah," he said. Al-Najjar explained that this year's prices are not only higher than last year, but also than the year before, with the demand steadily increasing. Ayman Al-Zaoubi of Al-Dar Al-Alamiya travel agency agreed: "Umrah is becoming increasingly popular every year, and it's not only because the H1N1 pandemic fears have disappeared, but I think it's because people are becoming more devout over the last few years," he suggested. Al-Zaoubi added, however, that the high prices are limited to those hotels around the Holy Mosque in Makkah. "In Kuwait they want a hotel two steps away from the Holy Mosque and one night there in the middle of Ramadan costs around KD 400," he said. "I have one hotel that's 1,500 meters away, but no one is willing to book into it, even though the prices are considerably cheaper there. Al-Zaoubi said that some travel agencies in Kuwait have had to accept lower profits just to make prices more attractive to customers. "The high accommodation prices are putting us on a very tight profit margin," he said, adding "The Kuwait Travel and Tourism Agencies Association should have discussed these issues and come up with a way to deal with the fact that hotels are taking advantage of the season, but no one did anything yet." The agents all expressed hope that their voices would reach hotel owners in Makkah, who might reconsider their extremely high prices for this Umrah season. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
