CONSUMER PROTECTON MEASURES FOR UMRAH PACKAGE TRAVELLERS IN MALAYSIA

Abstract

As one of the major contributors to the Malaysian tourism industry, Umrah package travel has
been recognised. For their particular intent, Muslims in Malaysia travel by package to Mecca
and Medina for their specific purpose: to perform religious duty (Umrah) to fulfill the unity of
spirit, heart and soul. Recently, due to many issues including non-performance contract, poor
service, cancelled trip as well as fraudulent cases, the number of complaints submitted by the
Umrah package travelers increased tremendously. Due to that problem, Umrah package
travelers may suffer financial, emotional and spiritual loss. In order to protect the interests of
Umrah package travelers in Malaysia, it is therefore necessary to have a robust legal
framework. This study is therefore intended to investigate how the Malaysian legal system
safeguards the rights and interests of Umrah package travelers in Malaysia, in particular
through laws and regulations. The results of the above analysis will define the adequacy of the
existing legal framework and the mechanism that we still in need of protecting the welfare of
Umrah package travellers.
INTRODUCTIO