The Nusuk will facilitate performing umrah or travelling to Saudi Arabia for Bangladeshis, said the digital platform's Asia Pacific president Alhasan Aldabbagh, yesterday.

"We are offering a lot of services on Nusuk. There are over 120 services available on the platform and we will continue to add more," he said in an interview with The Daily Star at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

Nusuk is the first integrated app that is designed to simplify travel to Saudi Arabia.

A person can apply for a visa to perform umrah through Nusuk or arrange a trip to Saudi Arabia by booking hotel accommodations, airlines, transportation, etc, using this app.

"So, it is a one-stop shop that makes it easy for any Bangladeshi to book their entire travel by a few cliques. It's a website [nusuk.sa] and it's also an application as well," he said.

"The idea of the platform is to allow tourism companies to be part of it and offer their services to the people. So, it's a competitive platform and when you create competition, the ultimate winner is the travellers," he added.

Alhasan said the platform will also help Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia to collaborate on tourism and investment sectors.

He said his government is investing in Bangladesh as it aims to attract 3 million Bangladeshis annually to visit Saudi Arabia by 2030.

The app will also be helpful to 2.8 million Bangladeshis living in Saudi Arabia, he said.

Saudi Arabia officially launched the Nusuk platform in Dhaka yesterday, primarily aiming at enhancing the convenience for Bangladeshi hajj and umrah pilgrims.

Alhasan said Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 has three pillars -- a thriving economy, a vibrant society and an ambitious nation – and tourism plays a big part in that.

He hoped that more and more Bangladeshi people would travel to Saudi either to perform umrah or to spend the holiday there in the near future.

Thus, he said, their interaction with Saudi people will increase, strengthening the ties among them and opening up new opportunities in various sectors.

So, there are many areas where people can collaborate if tourism flourishes. That is why we are emphasising on expanding tourism, said Alhasan.