Running an Umrah company from Jeddah with Makkah and Madinah branches: one picture for every team
How a Jeddah head office knows what is happening in Makkah and Madinah hotels, without dozens of calls and Excel files.
Many companies keep their management and accounting in Jeddah while serving pilgrims in Makkah and Madinah. Distance is not the first problem. The problem is each branch working from its own files: a hotel in a spreadsheet, coaches in a WhatsApp group, finance in a separate program. This guide offers a way to organise branches, for Umrah company owners and operations managers.
Who decides what?
This is a suggested split to adjust. What matters is that it is written down and known:
| Decision | Jeddah head office | Makkah or Madinah branch |
|---|---|---|
| Hotel and transport contracts | Negotiates and approves | Proposes and rates the service |
| Rooming lists | Reviews exceptions | Prepares and sends |
| Delayed flights | Steps in for major cases | Acts on site |
| Agents and prices | Sets price and credit limit | Passes on service feedback |
| Finance | Closes and reviews | Records custody and expenses |
What management wants each morning
Management does not need a long report, just short answers per branch:
- Free rooms tonight and the nearest release date, as in allotment tracking.
- Groups arriving and leaving today and tomorrow, and what they lack.
- Unconfirmed ground trips, and delayed flights.
- Open incidents and complaints, and who owns them.
- Team attendance, especially seasonal staff.
- Amounts due from agents, and any over their limit.
Moving from files to one system
Do not move everything at once as peak begins. Stage it:
- Record branches, staff and roles, and set permissions per role and branch.
- Enter current contracts, hotels and allotments, and match them with the hotels’ records.
- Run one real group from booking to departure before rolling the method out.
- Retire old files one at a time, so no fact has two figures.
- Review reports by branch after the first monthly close.
Choose a transition time away from peak where you can. For Ramadan timing, see the operations plan guide.
Accounting by branch
A yearly total does not tell you which branch earns the profit. So record every entry with its branch and season, plus the group or agent where it applies. Then review e-invoicing requirements with your tax adviser, because how branches affect invoicing depends on your company’s situation. If your branches sell through agents abroad, continue with the overseas agents guide.
Communicating between cities at peak
When decisions sit in Jeddah and execution in Makkah, every question becomes a call. Reduce that with a few clear rules: one duty person per shift in each city, one place to record what happened, and a clear limit on what a branch can decide without head office, such as swapping a coach or moving a room within the same contract.
Do not let WhatsApp groups become the record of decisions. Use them for quick alerts if you like, but write the decision itself where the next shift will see it at handover. A problem solved at night and lost by morning comes back the next day.
Common mistakes in running branches
These mistakes recur in companies growing quickly:
| Mistake | How it shows | Alternative |
|---|---|---|
| Every decision goes through head office | Slow fixes on site | Written decision limits for the branch |
| A branch with no clear owner | Each team assumes another is following up | A named season manager per branch |
| Different figures at branch and head office | Arguments in meetings instead of decisions | One source for rooms, movements and money |
| Broad access for everyone | Exposed passport data and prices | Permissions by role and branch |
An end-of-season review for each branch
After the season, sit with each branch using fixed questions, before next season’s contracts begin:
- How many rooms went back on time, and how many were paid for unused?
- Which suppliers had repeated problems?
- Which types of incident and complaint were most common?
- What did the branch earn by group and agent, after costs?
- Which seasonal staff should come back?
How Umrah Link supports a multi-branch company
Umrah Link brings a company’s departments into one system, including what concerns branches:
- Branches in the company profile, a home branch for each employee, and permissions you set by role and branch.
- Document numbering across the company or per branch, as you choose.
- In Finance: entries carrying branch, season, group, agent and supplier, with reports readable by branch.
- In Housing, transport & field: one set of allotments, lists and movement board for everyone.
- Plan limits are published on the pricing page, including the number of branches.
Common questions
Do we need a Makkah branch to serve pilgrims?
That is a regulatory and commercial decision that depends on your licence and business. Check with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah and your adviser, as this guide gives no legal answer to it.
Can a branch employee see another branch’s data?
You decide that with permissions per role and branch, so each team sees what it needs.
Can we bring our data over from Excel?
Several areas support importing from Excel or CSV. Book a demo so we can review your files and what suits them.
Sources
This guide is general information. The rules and dates are the named authorities’ to set, so check their own pages before acting.
