Sunday, February 24, 2019

JEDDAH: The number of Umrah visas issued this year by Saudi Arabia has reached more than 4.1 million.

According to data provided by the Saudi Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, the total figure for approved visas stands at 4,116,827, of which 3,672,648 pilgrims have arrived in the Kingdom. There are 439,785 pilgrims still in the country, with 302,263 of them in Makkah and 137,522 in Madinah.

Most pilgrims — 3,266,663 — traveled to the Kingdom by air, while 374,915 entered by land and 31,070 arrived by sea.

The largest number of pilgrims are from Pakistan (910,028), followed by Indonesia (596,970), India (391,087), Yemen (200,239), Malaysia (193,364), Egypt (189,496), Turkey (158,403), Algeria (127,563), and Bangladesh (93,760). 

The weekly data also included 8,430 males and 1,739 females working within Umrah companies and institutions.

Developing Hajj and Umrah organizations and services in the Kingdom is among the top priorities of the Saudi government. The Vision 2030 reform plan aims to attract more than 30 million Umrah pilgrims and provide them with top-class services and an outstanding experience.

Source: http://www.arabnews.com/node/1457471/saudi-arabia