Rashed Al-Fawzan
Haj is an annual event, the dates of which we know. So is the case with Umrah. The only difference is that Haj lasts for a few days while Umrah is ongoing throughout the year. As a result, large numbers of people from all over the world visit the holy sites, including domestic pilgrims.
Due to the current construction that is taking place in the Grand Mosque, the government of Saudi Arabia has specified pilgrim quotas for Gulf countries, which depends on the capacity of the Grand Mosque.
This reinforces the importance of having a quota system for pilgrims. Despite that, we see the number of Haj pilgrims every year coming close to 2 million and sometimes more. Even the number of Umrah pilgrims is high during vacations, especially before and during Ramadan. The total number of Haj and Umrah pilgrims exceeds 13 million a year and sometimes over 20 million.
Why have we not fully invested in this sector? One might ask what more is required. I am not talking here about charging visitors because that is not the main point of my article. I would like to ask where are the free zones?
Meaning, why have we not invested in the areas between Makkah and Jeddah?
Why have we not built a free zone at Jeddah’s new international airport?
This free zone could be linked to the airport. Where are the hotels outside Makkah that could be linked to shopping markets, coffee shops and family entertainment areas, which pilgrims could visit after completing their rituals?
Why is there no airport near Makkah? We understand that it is difficult to establish an airport near Makkah because of mountains but can we say it is impossible?
Where are the private museums? The heritage of Jeddah and Makkah could be put on display for visitors. Who knows the story about the Conquest of Makkah? How can we invest in historical sites in Makkah and attract visitors? There are hundreds of opportunities that we could invest in.
The idea here is not to impose charges on pilgrims, or to make them stay longer with the goal of them spending more.
All the countries around the world are investing to bring visitors to their country and are advertising themselves to attract people. Large numbers of people are coming to us without any invitation or marketing because of the religious obligation on every Muslim to come for Haj.
We need to invest to make their stay longer and so they spend more. This will reflect positively on our national economy and create more jobs in the private sector.
