Saudi prepares to serve two million pilgrims during Hajj season

Saudi Arabia is preparing to receive two million pilgrims during the upcoming Hajj season, Dr Tawfiq bin Fawzan Al-Rabiah, the Minister of Hajj and Umrah has said.

The minister’s comments came during a joint press conference held by him and the Algerian Minister of Religious Affairs and Endowments, Dr. Youssef Belmahdi. The two million pilgrims will also include 413,000 Algerian ones, Dr Al-Rabiah added.

Dr Al-Rabiah held several meetings with officials in Algeria, as part of a delegation visiting the country. He added that the Saudi government works on facilitating procedures and on developing legislation that enables Muslims around the world to visit the Holy sites and perform Umrah, Saudi Press Agency reported.

During the conference, he spoke of the development projects and infrastructure in the country that have been undertaken to provide quality services in the Two Holy Mosques and the holy sites. These projects, costing over SAR200bn, include the Haramain Express Train, which connects Makkah and Madinah in a two-hour journey.

The minister also referred to the services being provided by the “Nusuk platform” to enrich the experience of people visiting Saudi, especially after extending the Umrah visa period from 30 to 90 days, allowing Umrah to be performed for all types of visas, and reducing the cost of comprehensive insurance.

Saudi Arabia lifted the limitations on the number of pilgrims attending this year’s Hajj.

Read: Saudi Arabia scraps restrictions on Hajj pilgrim numbers, age limit

During the second edition of Hajj Expo 2023, Dr Al-Rabiah said that the number of people participating in this year’s Hajj will return to pre-pandemic levels and that there will be no age limit for the pilgrims.