Over 7000 Employees Working Around the Clock to Provide Telecommunications Services and Prepare 68 Offices GaStat: There are 13,776 Towers to Ensure Good Cellphone Coverage and 5G Technology in Mecca and the Holy Places for Pilgrims To raise the efficiency of ICT services in Mecca and the Holy Places, the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology deployed 5G technology during this year’s Hajj in Mecca, Medina, and the Holy Places, providing pilgrims with quality services. The ministry launched the second phase of the Smart Hajj initiative, which offers a number of applications, platforms and digital and awareness services. This year, the initiative included a volunteer training platform for pilgrims, a virtual reality platform to instruct pilgrims abroad on performing rites, as well as a platform for smart phone applications that would make it easier for pilgrims to benefit from a number of application during their journey. As per the statistics of the 1440 AH Hajj, provided to pilgrims by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the General Authority for Statistics, the total number of employees providing telecommunications and IT services to pilgrims during the season this year reached 7098 employees, working around the clock to provide advanced and adequate communications services. The Communications and Information Technology Commission supervises all services provided to the guests of Rahman in coordination with licensed telecommunications and IT service providers.  There is a total of 68 telecommunications offices in Mecca. The total number of mobile towers in the Great Mosque, Mecca, Mina, Muzdalifah, Arafat and Medina was 13,776 towers, ensuring mobile communication coverage, data coverage, and coverage of land, sea and airports, roads, and Meeqaths with full telecommunication and internet services; In regards to services provided, the Mecca branch of the Communications and Information Technology Commission in Mecca periodically checks sound and Internet indicators and verifies their effectiveness, surveys mobile network bandwidth between the Two Holy Mosques, monitors highways linking Mecca, Jeddah and Medina to ensure mobile service quality, addresses any harmful interference affecting network performance, and allows the use of temporary usage of certain frequencies for each mobile operator to increase network capacity and improve the level of services provided to pilgrims in Mecca, Medina, and the Holy Places.  Authorized telecom operators in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia are located in more than 68 points of sale across the Holy of Places to provide SIM cards, data, and top-up cards, in addition to providing technical support centers in various languages to serve pilgrims.  The General Authority for Statistics provides many details through the Hajj statistics register for 1440 AH, created to publish all statistics related to Hajj services provided by the government agencies to pilgrims, through its official website at www.stats.gov.sa

Transfer of pilgrims between the Holy Places (two million and one hundred thousand) via scheduled trip during Hajj, via 17,983 buses.  GaStat: The Kingdom has tasked 38,000 employees with  transport, mail, shipping, and logistics services for Hajj pilgrims. Transport, shipping, mail, logistics and logistics services in general are five of the most important services provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to pilgrims, and greatly facilitate the pilgrimage. The Kingdom has deployed 38,750 employees, working in seven specialized sectors to provide air and land transport, mail, shipping, and logistics services. This is according to the General Authority for Statistics’ numbers on the pilgrimage 1440 AH season, published on its official website on Wednesday 6 Dhu al-Hijjah 1440 AH.    Air transport, supervised by the General Authority of Civil Aviation, sees an expected total of 14,955 international and domestic flights for pilgrims. There are 8,209 flights to and from King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah. There are 8,209 transporting pilgrims domestically and internationally to and from Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina. 1435 employees are at the Jeddah airport, 840 at the Medina airport, working around the clock starting from the first of Dhu al-Qidah to provide an integrated system of services for pilgrims arriving by air. Work will continue until the middle of the next Muharram, including services provided at airports: To maintain the safety of arriving passengers, regulate the movement of aircraft, and monitor the performance of technical and electrical systems within airports, an addition to supervising the arrival and receipt of luggage and maintain cleanliness of airport facilities. The Hajj Terminal at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah receives approximately 48,000 pilgrims daily. The complex of halls dedicated for pilgrims accommodates 3800 pilgrims per hour arriving, and 3500 pilgrims in departure, 12,000 passengers in areas outside the terminal; the modern halls accommodate 91,000 arrivals and 84,000 departures per day. They also can accommodate 312 flights at an average of 13 flights per hour. Sea transport is overseen by the Saudi Ports Authority (Mawani). It employs 292 employees in Jeddah Islamic Port to provide facilities for the arrival of pilgrims, reduce the procedure completion time, prepare facilities for the service and reception of pilgrims from the first moment of arrival at the port until their departure. The port started receiving pilgrims arriving by sea from mid-Dhu al-Qidah and lasts until the fourth of Dhu al-Hijjah. In regards to buses between the Kaaba and Holy Places, there are 2,100,000 trips via 17,983 buses during Hajj. There are 34,234 employees, drivers, supervisors handling bus transfers from the General Cars Syndicate and the Supreme Authority for the Control of Pilgrim Transport, which is working to establish a regulation to ensure the responsibility for the safety of vehicles used to transport pilgrims, control their movements, ensure that company owners sign ensuring the validity of their work buses, insure all buses, ensuring that companies' buses undergo periodic technical maintenance at the allocated stations, conduct field trips to to inspect buses passing approved checkpoints, operate a system for registration of buses and violations, and all the bus data adopted, including: Type of bus, license number, structure number, company affiliation, follow-up of bus operation at airports, port and road breaks, guidance and promotion centers, support centers, following-up the transport of pilgrims between Mecca and Medina and Jeddah, monitoring bus breakdowns, accidents—as soon as they occur—and coordinate with competent authorities to ensure the speedy completion of procedures, and to ensure the availability and adequacy of the signs indicating the cities of Hajj, as well as the availability of a guide for each bus, and coordination with specialists in guiding buses. In regards to transporting pilgrims between Medina and Mecca, the Haramain high-speed railway sees five daily trips to Mecca and five return trips to Medina; the train includes 4 stations with a total workforce of 456 male and female staff working throughout the year. Regarding logistics (courier, shipping, warehousing and logistics) provided to pilgrims, 494 employees of Saudi Post work in 61 post offices in Mecca, Medina, and the Holy Places, with the support of 40 cars and 72 motorcycles. The system operates around the clock Hajj. Postal services include: The “Hajj Packages” service, which seeks to limit extra weight that pilgrims are forced to carry. The services offered to pilgrims also include Hady & Adah in Hajj in cooperation with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Project For Utilization Of Hady & Adah through points of sale in all post offices spread across the Kingdom or at temporary stalls in Mecca, Medina, and the Holy Places. A total of 41,927 parcels were sent and received during the last pilgrimage to and from Mecca. For more details of the statistics of the services provided by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to pilgrims, the General Authority for Statistics provided many details through the Hajj statistics register for 1440 AH, through its official website at www.stats.gov.sa

Authority for Statistics: Follow-up and field supervision on Hajj health services is one of the five key services offered to Hajj pilgrims. It includes over 33 basic services delivered by more than 6,000 supervisor and monitor Government and service entities in Saudi Arabia offer a vast pool of services to Hajj pilgrims. These services are generally divided into 5 basic services: follow-up and field supervision of Hajj, general Hajj services, Hajj health services, Hajj transport services, and Information and Communication Technology services in Mecca and holy sites. GAS announced on Sunday, 3 Dhu al-Hijjah under the 1440 H Hajj season statistics records on its official website www.stats.gov.sa that the size of workforce providing follow up and field supervision services for the guests of Allah this year has reached 6,336 supervisors and monitors, including 156 females. These are supervising Hajj-related work carried out by all government and service entities from the arrival of pilgrims and until their departure.Follow up and field supervision of government entities in question is divided between desk work and field work. The total number of vehicles dedicated for field work reached 1,222 vehicles, including tailored equipment, cars, and motorcycles. They have been also equipped with 2,400 wireless devices for direct communication. GAS indicated that 6 government entities are providing follow up and supervision services: The Emirate of Mecca Region, the Emirate of Medina Region, the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, the Ministry of Commerce and Investment, the Control and Investigation Board, the Ministry of Labor and Social Development.The entities provide support and monitoring for Hajj and Umrah works in order to offer the best services for Hajj and Umrah pilgrims, supervise the performance of entities operating at outlets under the umbrella of the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, identify shortcomings, supervise the transportation of pilgrims from their accommodation in Mecca to Mina (Tent City), supervise their return from Mina at the end of the pilgrimage to their accommodation in Mecca, oversee the transportation of pilgrims between holy sites in buses, prepare a plan for the boarding of pilgrims from pilgrim camps to Jamaraat Bridge, including boarding schedules and routes, oversee services provided to national pilgrims during their presence in holy sites to ensure high quality, address errors, and identify shortcomings, monitor the availability of supplied quantities of commodities, foodstuff, and meals in Mecca, Medina, holy sites, Jeddah, and Taif, monitor seasonal workforce during the Hajj season, check their workplaces and accommodation, perform overall monitoring of services offered during Hajj, and assist Committees charged with monitoring the distribution of holy site lands and camps.  It is worth mentioning that the main Hajj follow up and supervision services amount to over 33 services, from which many more services are derived. These services are carried out throughout the year, and not just during the Hajj season, through committees and teams emanating from the 6 government entities. - End -

From 1390 H until last year 1439 H   General Authority for Statistics: Over 95 million Hajj pilgrims hosted and served by KSA over the last 50 years The task of counting the numbers of pilgrims every year is one of the most important tasks assigned to the General Authority for Statistics (GAS). The task was entrusted to GAS in 1390 H back when it still operated under the designation of Department of Statistics and Information. This aimed at providing accurate information to assist all government entities in the planning and development of everything related to the service of the guests of Allah. The task continued throughout these years, witnessing year after year developments in counting and inventory methods and statistical outputs including data and indicators. The Authority is tasked with completing three statistical projects during every Hajj season (inventory of the numbers of pilgrims, statistics of services offered to pilgrims, and Hajj work management indicators) with the goal of providing the largest amount of data needed to support decision- and policy-makers in achieving the highest levels of accuracy and comprehensiveness. The Authority indicated that the total number of pilgrims served by the Kingdom during the last 50 years amounted to 95,853,017 pilgrims, noting that the numbers exceeded 2 millions in 19 Hajj seasons, while the numbers of pilgrims during the last 25 years reached 54,465,253 pilgrims.  Moreover, the numbers of pilgrims during the last 10 years reached 23,796,977 pilgrims, as per the GAS official statistics. The hajj statistics program is aimed at complementing all other future plans and programs in order to provide necessary services for the Hajj pilgrim, including social, health, security, food, and transport services.This is done by producing timed and accurate data on the numbers of pilgrims and estimated size of workforce needed to serve pilgrims and maintain their security and comfort during the Hajj season every year. The pilgrims data and numbers are also used by entities entrusted with studying basic installations and facilities in Mecca and holy sites and are taken into consideration when preparing necessary plans for this end. Accurate information and data on Hajj statistics is also provided to researchers, academics, beneficiaries, and those interested in the field and is used as well in the evaluation of activities and events held by pilgrim service entities and for learning about trends and patterns of national and foreign pilgrims. GAS will publish the final and official number of Hajj pilgrims on the 9th of Dhu al-Hijjah in the evening through the bulletin of Hajj statistics which will include the following detailed results: Number of national pilgrims, number of foreign incoming pilgrims, number of pilgrims by gender, nationality, and country of departure, numbers and models of vehicles transporting pilgrims, and other detailed data.