Saudi Arabia expects as many participants in the traditional pilgrimage to Mecca again this year as before the corona pandemic.
Last year, about one million people were able to participate in the pilgrimage or hajj, as Muslims call it. In previous years, Saudi Arabia only allowed people from its own country to join the holy pilgrimage and there were even fewer participants: 60,000 in 2021 and 10,000 in 2020.
Muslims from other countries who had booked Hajj in Mecca in 2020 through special travel agencies received last year priority continue the pilgrimage. People who participated last year could not be older than 65 and had to be fully vaccinated. These requirements will also expire this year.
Hajj is obligatory for any able-bodied Muslim who can afford travel, and is one of the five pillars of the Islamic faith. During the pilgrimage to the holy city of Mecca, Muslims make seven circuits around the Kaaba, the central square sanctuary on the square of the Great Mosque.
This year the pilgrimage is from 26 June to 1 July. In 2019, before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, 2.5 million believers traveled to Mecca. Of these, 1.8 million came from abroad. Before the pandemic, Saudi Arabia was making around €11 billion a year from hajj and the other, smaller, pilgrimage umrah.
