A marketplace for umrah trip “Kitaumroh” is now officially launched in Indonesia with multiple protection to guarantee the umrah pilgrims. Security is a crucial issue after First Travel case resulting thousands of umrah pilgrims lost their money.
Speaking of business, Indonesia is a country with the second largest number of pilgrims worldwide per year, after Pakistan in 2017. Last year, there were around 1 million Indonesian pilgrims depart. It’s predicted, the number of pilgrims increased every year by 10% and to raise due to the online business penetration.
Eka Ananda Mumpuni, Kitaumroh‘s CMO said the company filters the organizers not only by Ministry of Religious Affairs list but also internal discussion. It’ll be crosschecked, the track record, the business span, and its reputation in the market.
The umrah package shouldn’t be less than the government’s limit, Rp20 million. All payments are using escrow account to gain consumer’s trust.
“Therefore, no price war among umrah trip partners. If the price set below the limit, it’s going to blacklist,” he explained (1/24).
The last stage of Kitaumroh’s multiple protection is insurance to replace all costs if the trip failed. The company is responsible to pay for all package purchased by the pilgrims.
Kitaumroh offers not only umrah package but also additional features, such as umrah prayer, Qibla, digital Al Quran, nearest mosque, and Ta’lim schedule. They’ll add more features in the future to facilitate alms and “infak” in supporting Muslims daily needs.
In his opinion, this differentiation should be able to boost the popularity of Kitaumroh. Previously, there are also Pergiumroh and Ihram Asia. Ihram Asia claims to be the biggest player with 209 umrah trip partners.
Kitaumroh business plan
Until the end of this year, they target 10 new partners in KItaumroh. Mumpuni said their team will add more, therefore, the company collaborates with Amphuri (Indonesian Muslim Association of Umrah and Hajj Organizers).
Currently, the company has been partnered with 5 umrah trip organizers include Tursina, Anamona, RH, Mozaik, and Marco.
“Amphuri members are 400 trip organizers, we’ll filter the ones fit to our criteria.”
He and team will also develop umrah service to be customized personally by the pilgrims, no need to follow any package scheduled by organizers. They can set the departure date, flight and hotel preference, and the route.
“The experience will be like visiting Traveloka website.”
The target is to raise around 200 pilgrims for umrah trip scheduled in March 2019. Also, the number of app download to 1000-5000 times by the end of 2019.
Kitaumroh has received funding from internal angel investors. The current team consists of 10 people.
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Original article is in Indonesian, translated by Kristin Siagian
