Saudi Minister Of Hajj And Umrah Announces The Arrival Of More Than 1.2 Million Pilgrims To The Kingdom

Riyadh: The Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, announced the arrival of approximately one million two hundred thousand pilgrims from various countries of the world until the end of the day, as all stages of their journey were completed with ease and reassurance, and they enjoy distinguished health conditions and standards. Satisfaction is high, stressing that this success came thanks to God first, then thanks to the unlimited support of the wise leadership and the sincere efforts of the heroes of the system of serving the guests of God. 

His Excellency explained in the government press conference held today in Riyadh in the presence of Minister of Information Salman bin Youssef Al-Dosari that the Kingdom, since its founding, has been honored to serve the guests of God, as the wise leadership attaches great importance to facilitating the arrival of pilgrims to the Two Holy Mosques and the holy sites to perform the rituals with ease and reassurance.

Dr. Al-Rabiah confirmed that work on the Guests of God system continues under the directives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, and the close follow-up of His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, and with continuous follow-up from His Highness. The Minister also acknowledged the continuous support of the Minister of Interior and Chairman of the Supreme Hajj Committee, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif, along with the dedication of the princes and representatives in the Makkah and Madinah regions. Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah also highlighted the need for adherence to regulations and instructions. This is to ensure a smooth and fulfilling Hajj experience.

Minister Al-Rabiah also stressed that the directives of the wise leadership for early preparation for the Hajj season, with diligent efforts and continuous keenness to review plans, projects, and initiatives to develop them, address the challenges of previous years, and come up with creative ideas transformed into realistic solutions that advance the service of pilgrims of the Holy House of God with the support of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030. 

His Excellency highlighted the most prominent works that were launched early to serve the guests of God as the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah prepared for this year’s Hajj season, 1445 AH, since the end of last year’s Hajj season, by meeting with the heads and representatives of the Pilgrimage Affairs Offices and handing them the initial arrangements documents on Dhul-Hijjah 12, 1444 AH - the night of the end of last year’s season -. His Excellency the Minister of Hajj and Umrah stated that the Program for Serving the Guests of God established the Hajj Projects Office (Hajj PMO), which completed its work this year in coordination with more than 50 government agencies to follow up on more than 300 plans in 2,600 landmarks to raise readiness for the Hajj season 1445 AH since the month of Muharram 1445 AH. 

He said, “Since the end of the Hajj season last year, I and my fellow leaders of the system have visited eleven countries, during which we held 24 official meetings with officials in most of these countries, in order to discuss with them directly and work to invest in opportunities to facilitate their pilgrims and address challenges,” noting that this is a historical precedent. The first Umrah visa was issued on the seventh of the last blessed month of Ramadan, as the number of visas issued until the first of the month of Dhul-Qi’dah 1445 reached more than one million visas, that is, seven times more than in the same period of the year 1444 AH, expressing his thanks to the success partners in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

In this regard, His Excellency the Minister pointed out the launch of an international campaign to raise awareness of the danger of violating Hajj regulations and instructions, fake campaigns, and electronic fraud practices in more than 20 countries around the world, in addition to the launch of the national campaign (No Hajj without a permit) led by partners in the Ministry of Interior and the Emirate of Makkah Al-Mukarramah Region to raise awareness and then implement the regulations and instructions regulating the Hajj, which enables everyone who performs the Hajj by regular means to complete the ritual in comfort and order. 

The Minister confirmed that the “Makkah Road” initiative continues for the sixth year, with more than 250,000 pilgrims benefiting from it this year. It is one of the initiatives of the Program for Serving the Guests of God and is being implemented under the leadership of the Ministry of Interior in 7 countries through 11 airports. His Excellency explained that in order to raise the efficiency of the system’s workers and raise the levels of hospitality and welcome to the guests of God, in order to provide the best services to pilgrims and Umrah performers, the past months witnessed the continuation of training more than 120,000 workers and leaders of pilgrim groups, as more than 2,500 training workshops were held in a number of languages in the Kingdom and 10 others in countries around the world. 

Dr. Al-Rabiah spoke about the efforts made to develop the service system by opening competition between different Hajj service companies, noting that the number of service providers has increased this year to 35. He said, “We were keen to gradually improve and open up competition, as well as being very careful to choose companies specialized in hospitality with distinguished expertise and high financial capabilities. Previously, pilgrims from Europe, America, and countries that do not have Hajj delegations organized by the countries came through organization from tourism offices in these countries, and this affected the experience, service, prices, and service guarantee as agreed upon. There were also some pilgrims who were subjected to some fraudulent practices. We began in the year 1443 AH to organize pilgrims coming from these countries, so we began to implement them first in Europe and America, so that the application was done electronically directly without. intermediaries, without intermediary tourist offices to guarantee the service and ensure that pilgrims receive the agreed upon service. Last year we expanded further, covering 67 countries, and this year we expanded the service and now this service, which is provided directly without intermediaries, covers 126 countries, and this has achieved great satisfaction in praise of the countries’ leaders, and reflected in the beautiful image and the keenness of the Kingdom’s leadership to provide the best services to pilgrims from all countries of the world, and with regard to domestic pilgrims, His Excellency the Minister referred to working through a unified electronic portal that facilitates the selection of services and to developing the “Nusk” application, which provides 120 digital services. 

His Excellency stressed that the workers in the Hajj and Umrah system, from all sectors, have scientific and practical qualifications and high-level experiences, and they work day and night, feeling the honor of service and religious and national responsibility, and they are supported by more than 10 thousand male and female volunteers. He pointed out, in terms of preparing and developing facilities in the Holy Sites, that the work has been completed. Preparing the Jamarat facility to comply with the plans for organizing and organizing, supported by overhead canopies and air conditioning with spray; To reduce temperatures, in addition to increasing the efficiency and readiness of escalators, with the aim of facilitating pilgrims’ access to the sites of stoning the Jamarat, a number of projects were completed side by side with the aim of improving the experience of the pilgrims by creating 11 buildings, accommodating 37 thousand pilgrims, as a prototype to improve the pilgrims’ experience. It took 9 months to implement.

With regard to humanization projects and improving the experience, Minister Al-Rabiah stated that the area surrounding the Holy Mosque has been developed by launching the project (the Holy Mosque Path) to be suitable for walking and transportation easily and conveniently. The largest cooling station in the world has also been equipped to purify the air in the Grand Mosque to soften and cool the atmosphere for pilgrims. His Excellency indicated that the partners in the transportation system are continuing rapid development work, as this year’s Hajj season will witness the operation of the Mashaer Train, with a capacity of 72,000 passengers per hour, to contribute to transporting more than 350,000 pilgrims between the holy sites. Work is also underway with partners. The Ministry of Health is in charge around the clock to monitor the health status of the guests of God.

His Excellency the Minister of Hajj and Umrah confirmed that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has harnessed all capabilities and mobilized all capabilities to make the Hajj 1445 AH a success, in a season that witnesses exceptional development within a transformative experience supported by the outcomes of Saudi Vision 2030 in its eighth year through the initiatives of the Program for Serving the Guests of God, in fulfillment of the aspirations of the wise leadership May God support it. That we all do everything in our power to serve the pilgrims of the Sacred House of God, asking God Almighty to facilitate the pilgrims’ Hajj and return with an approved Hajj, a rewarded effort, and a forgiven sin.