The Haj Ministry has started preparations for the Umrah season in 2012 in advance, even before the Haj pilgrims of 2011 have left Makkah and Madinah. The first step in the preparations to welcome the new season is to evaluate the performance of Umrah service providing companies. The Director of the Department for the Affairs of Umrah Establishments in the Haj Ministry, Adnan Hariri, informed that the evaluation formalities of Umrah service providers would commence from Saturday in Jeddah and Makkah, while the evaluation process in Madinah would start two weeks later. The move has been made by the ministry in line with an order of Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, to evaluate the Umrah service providing establishments, before issuing visas to them, in the beginning of every Umrah season. Any company with some negative observations in its past performance would be dealt with in coordination with the Passport Department. The new season will start by the middle of January. During the last season (2011) there was a huge influx of Umrah pilgrims, which according to some estimates, was 50 percent more than 2010. The market experts believe that in 2012 the number of pilgrims would not be less than the last season. Sources at the local Umrah companies told Arab News that Umrah organizing companies abroad have already begun to contact them for more details on Umrah packages. A Saudi Umrah service provider said foreign tour operators have beefed up promotions in media as well as online on Umrah packages. “Indications are that there will be a large turnout of Umrah pilgrims from Europe, Asia and Africa apart from the Arab and Muslim countries for the upcoming season,” a source told Arab News.