The authorities of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have rolled out a road map for next year’s hajj exercise.
Saudi Minister for Hajj and Umrah, Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, unveiled the plan at the headquarters of the ministry in Makkah Friday evening at a meeting with the leadership of the hajj missions that participated in the 2023 hajj exercise.
The session was to mark the end of the 2023 hajj pilgrimage performed by more than two million pilgrims from over 160 countries.
Al-Rabiah disclosed that preparations for next year’s hajj would begin with issuance of letters to countries that announced commencement of preparations for the exercise.
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The minister said this would be followed by issuance of letters of confirmation of number of pilgrims slots allocated to participating countries.
He said for the 2024 pilgrimage, preparatory meetings would be held from September 16 to November 4 of this year; while an international symposium and exhibition would be organised on January 8.
Al-Rabiah said accomodation and masha’er contracts would be concluded on February 25; while visa issuance would begin on March 1 and close on April 29.
He said the first set of pilgrims for the next year’s hajj exercise would arrive the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on May 9.
He advised participating countries to prepare early enough for the pilgrimage in order to get their preferred locations at Masha’er (Mina, Arafat and Muzdalifah).
At the meeting, Iraq was announced as winner of the 2023 Labbaikum Hajj Services Award. Gambia, Singapore, Malaysia, South Africa and Azerbaijan were also recognised for their performance in various hajj operations.
