Travel companies have begun implementing the plan to move Egyptian tourism pilgrims up to Mount Arafat to perform the greatest pillar of Hajj today, Tuesday, in the 1447 AH-2026 season, and the buses assigned to transport pilgrims have arrived at their accommodation, whether in the area surrounding the Grand Mosque or elsewhere.
Tourism pilgrims this year number around 41,000, about 52% of all Egyptian pilgrims, and they are expected to be moved to Arafat today on around 1,200 modern Saudi vehicles, ranging from coaches to private and family cars, belonging to the Kingdom's largest transport companies and equipped to the highest standards of comfort and safety.
Maximum readiness was declared at the tourism Hajj mission headed by Samia Samy, Assistant Minister of Tourism and Antiquities for Travel Company Affairs and Head of the Supreme Committee for Hajj and Umrah, to ensure the safe and orderly movement of pilgrims, with round-the-clock monitoring of every stage in coordination with the Saudi authorities, travel companies and the company responsible for hosting tourism pilgrims.
Samia Samy stressed that Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy is following the movement moment by moment, and that the mission's central operations room receives continuous field reports from monitoring committees deployed at pilgrims' accommodation and camps at the holy sites, noting that the reports are sent directly to the minister's office to make sure the movement is orderly and pilgrims are safe.
She added that the movement continues until midnight according to a precise timetable prepared in advance to avoid congestion and crowding and ensure pilgrims reach their camps in Arafat easily.
She explained that, as has been customary for Egyptian Hajj missions in recent years, most pilgrims were taken directly to Arafat without spending the night of Tarwiyah in Mina, to preserve their comfort and safety and in line with the approved organizational plans.
On the other hand, a limited number of travel companies organizing what is known as "Sunnah Hajj" moved their pilgrims to Mina from the early hours of yesterday morning to spend the night there. They numbered 4,000 pilgrims and were taken to Arafat at dawn today, in full coordination with the mission and the Saudi Tawafa companies. The companies that organized Tarwiyah for their pilgrims covered all levels of tourism Hajj: economy, land, five-star and luxury.
Electronic bus tracking and an operations room to respond to any emergency
The Religious Tourism Committee of the Chamber of Tourism Companies revealed that, under the agreement with the company responsible for providing hospitality services to tourism pilgrims, a route guide and a supervisor were assigned to every bus to monitor transport and deal immediately with any emergency.
For the first time, an electronic tracking system for bus routes using GPS devices is being applied, with a central operations room set up to monitor routes and make sure drivers stick to the predetermined paths.
The buses were also equipped with cold water, juices and modern toilets in anticipation of any traffic congestion or emergency delays, with contingency scenarios in place to deal immediately with any breakdowns or exceptional circumstances.
