Saudi Arabia’s Mecca Businesses See Hajj Boom Ending Covid-19 Pandemic Slump
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Alaina
- . July 5, 2022
- . Update: July 6, 2022 1:40 pm
Saudi arabia–After two years, business owners in Saudi Arabia’s Mecca are hoping for a quick recovery as hundreds of thousands of worshippers came to the region this week to perform the Hajj.
One million people, including 850,000 from abroad, will be allowed during this year’s Hajj season. Business owners will profit as Mecca prepares to host the biggest Hajj pilgrimage since the Covid-19 pandemic.
Business owners in Mecca are happy
Abdullah Mekhlafi sells prayer mats in Islam’s holiest city. He reportedly said, “We had few customers during the last two Hajj seasons, but today business is back, thanks to God. It’s the same as before, and even better.” Many business owners also said that their losses could be recovered this year.
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Pilgrims started arriving in the holy city of Mecca on Friday. People were also seen at the main shopping centre near the Grand Mosque, where many hotels are located.
Hajj, a once-in-a-lifetime duty for every able-bodied Muslim, is a major source of income for business owners in Mecca. The Hajj, which costs at least $5,000 per person, is also a significant revenue for the Saudi Arabian government. The revenue is also generated from worshippers’ lodging, transport, fees and gifts.
Reportedly, an economic reform plan of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman aims to increase Umrah and Hajj capacity to 30 million pilgrims annually and to generate 50 billion riyals of revenues by 2030.
Hajj
For two years, as Covid-19 raged around the world, the Saudi Arabian government, custodian of the holy sites in Mecca, closed the country to outsiders. In 2019, the last year before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, around 2.6 million people performed the Hajj. Over the past two years, Saudi Arabia has spent billions of dollars on making religious gatherings more secure for worshippers.
This year, only those younger than 65 are allowed to perform Hajj. People who have been fully vaccinated or immunised against Covid-19 can perform Hajj.
