The Minister of Hajj and Umrah, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, brought good news to Muslims that the number of pilgrims for the Hajj season of the year 1444 AH will return to what it was before the pandemic, without conditions or age restrictions. He also announced during the opening ceremony of the Hajj and Umrah Services Conference and Exhibition “Hajj Expo” that the comprehensive insurance fees for pilgrims will be reduced to 88. Riyals, and the pilgrim’s insurance fee is 29 riyals.

He revealed the total amount invested by the Kingdom in infrastructure in expanding the Holy Mosque in Mecca at a cost exceeding (200) billion riyals, as the largest construction project in history, and the continuation of work on expanding the Noble Prophet’s Mosque and developing the holy sites. It also worked on the largest project to develop the Quba Mosque. In addition to developing facilities and infrastructure according to the best international standards, we worked with our partners in the transportation and logistics system and their partners to increase seat capacity, including establishing the largest airport in the Kingdom to serve the guests of God, which is King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah, the cost of which exceeded more than ( 40 billion riyals, in addition to the construction of the Haramain train linking Mecca and Medina at a cost of more than 64 billion riyals, which contributed significantly to reducing the journey time to two hours, after the journey had taken more than 6 hours.

He pointed out the keenness of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to continuously develop the services provided to the guests of God and improve their experience throughout the journey. For this reason, the Ministry reduced the value of the comprehensive insurance premium for pilgrims from 235 riyals for the pilgrim to 88 riyals, a reduction of 63%, as well as reducing the pilgrims’ insurance from 109 riyals.

Al-Rabiah explained that starting from this current world, all Hajj missions can contract with any licensed company within the Kingdom, after decades ago, each mission from around the world had a number limited to specific companies and could not contract with others, stressing the ministry’s role in enhancing competitiveness. By making it possible to contract with multiple companies for missions, instead of one company.

The Minister of Hajj and Umrah revealed good news that the numbers of pilgrims will return to what they were before the pandemic, without age restrictions, and that work has begun on preparing more than 20 exhibitions and more than 100 historical sites, to document the biography of the Prophet and his honorable companions to enrich the journey of pilgrims and Umrah performers.< /p>

Al-Rabiah pointed out several facilities provided to Umrah pilgrims, as holders of Umrah visas can now move around throughout the Kingdom, and in return, holders of all other visas are allowed to perform Umrah, in addition to extending the duration of the Umrah visa from 30 days to 90 days, in addition to launching the Nask platform. And making it possible to issue a visa within less than 24 hours electronically, pointing out that the Hajj conference and exhibition is the largest of its kind in the Kingdom, and it brings together all stakeholders inside and outside the Kingdom to facilitate the journey of the pilgrims.