Questions/Answers

The objective of this initiative is to achieve smart Hajj by offering pre-clearance of immigration for pilgrims at their respective points of embarkation from when the travel visa is issued until the finalizing of passport and customs in the country of departure after confirming the availability of the health requirements. It is aligned with the goals and objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 to improve Hajj services for pilgrims and ease the travel. This allows the pilgrims to expedite their check-in through the immigration check point as they will ride directly in the buses waiting for them to reach their places of residence in Mecca and Medina, without having to wait for their luggage which will also be delivered to their place of residence.

The diversity, inclusion and equity sit at the core of this initiative which was developed to serve people and ease their travel. As both a public and global service, the initiative is all inclusive and is accessible by travelers who want to perform Hajj. It was developed to improve Hajj services for pilgrims, especially the elderly and handicapped since it offers pre-clearance of immigration for the pilgrims at their respective points of embarkation which decreases their waiting times at the airport.

The Makkah Route initiative contributes to the fulfillment of SDG 17 by offering pre-clearance of immigration for pilgrims at their respective points of embarkation. It is built upon a shared vision and shared goals which places people at the centre by easing their travels. It is one of the initiatives of the National Transformation Program (NTP) 2020 which is being implemented as part of the goals and objectives of Saudi Vision 2030 to improve Hajj services for pilgrims, to facilitate their travel procedures and to help them perform Hajj with ease and comfort. The service will be expanded to cover pilgrims from additional countries in coming years which advocates SDG 17 in creating strong cooperation at global levels placing people at the centre; it lines with target 17.3 by mobilizing additional financial resources for the country to have different revenue streams.

Makkah Route contributes substantially to the social and economic aspect by easing and providing pilgrims globally with the essential requirements including digital services and applications including: health applications, emergency application, and navigation application for pilgrims. The initiative has served 171 thousand pilgrims in 2019 who came from 5 different airports. The average satisfaction rate across all 5 airports for the initiative was 99%.

Due to the yearly increasing number of pilgrims, Saudi Ministry of Interior developed the Makkah Route initiative to alleviate the waiting time from both the departure airport and the arrival airport. The initiative is especially beneficial for the elderly and handicapped since it offers pre-clearance of immigration for the pilgrims at their respective points of embarkation from when the travel visa is issued until the finalizing of passport and customs in the country of departure.

The initiative’s services provide pre-clearance for all travelers irrespective of their gender to Saudi from when the Travel visa is issued until the finalizing of the passport and customs from their respective departure country. It is inclusive for all groups of individuals: people with disabilities, the elderly, infants, etc.

The Makkah Route Initiative inclusively targets individuals who want to perform Hajj yearly. The initiative was initially developed and designed by the Ministry of Interior along with the respective implementation stakeholders ( Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Elm Company, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, General Authority of Civil Aviation, Saudi Customs and General Directorate of Passports which is under Ministry of Interior) as a result of the yearly increased number of travelers to Makkah. Due to that reason, the initiative was launched to improve Hajj services for pilgrims and ease the travel. Previously, the average waiting time in King Abdulaziz Airport and Prince Mohammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport was around 3 hours due to the crowd congestion from the rush times of several planes landing simultaneously. Since the initiative offers pre-clearance of immigration for the pilgrims from their departure airports, travelers don’t have to wait in long lines in the airport across different stations as an outcome. The average waiting time in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, with the highest number of travelers in 2019, was around 4 minutes with an evaluation from the respective travelers for the service at a 100%.

Developed a range of technical systems aligned with the service provider (Border System, Hajj System, Traveler Registration System) Supervised the technical infrastructure required equipment in coordination with the related authorities Received and operated sites and information transfer services and provided technical support services Installed devices and workstations of various types and the provision of technical support services Provided technical support services for luggage trolleys with biometric devices Removed and disassembled devices after the Hajj was completed Provided external and internal technical support by qualified engineers and technicians (outside staff were 64 participants, internal staff were 61 participants)

Difficulties included technical infrastructure complications when aligning with the five countries during the integration stage due to the technical differences as well as the installation of the data transmission circuits, encryption software, and the firewall. The initiative overcame these complications due to the strong technical infrastructure capabilities.

The initiative is innovative by digitalizing and offering pre-clearance of immigration forms for all pilgrims based on the fact that large numbers, in millions, of pilgrims come from different countries, especially Malaysia and Indonesia. It allows pilgrims to head directly to their accommodations without having to deal with time-consuming procedures. The average waiting time in Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, with the highest number of travelers in 2019, was around 4 minutes with a rating from the respective travelers for the service at a 100%.

There are no similar initiatives to the Makkah Route due to the specific duty of Hajj in Saudi

The technology utilized was the typical airports and passports management technologies, and the innovation was on orchestrating the efforts across the different stakeholders.

No, the initiative has not been transferred/ adapted.

There is potential of transferability in which countries can utilize a lesser version of this initiative by adopting the concept when welcoming tourists into their countries, especially over the vacation times. It would be especially highly efficient and effective for countries with a high influx of tourists. Especially with COVID19, it will help in decreasing the load on the immigration staff at the airports and allowing for easier organizations which in turn decreases the overall waiting times in long queues.

Recruited and hired 28 technical staff across several departments including software, operational, administrative and technical support Provided the needed technical environment including servers, software licenses and firewall

Continuous development of the service and usage of the latest global technologies to serve millions of pilgrims yearly. Permanent technical service support during the Hajj days

Yes

The initiative was evaluated externally in 2019 by the five countries where the pilgrims come from: Malaysia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Tunis. Evaluation results from the two countries with the highest number of travelers, Indonesia and Bangladesh with around 118 thousand in total, with an average waiting time 4 minutes and 3 minutes respectively at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport and Dakka airport to onboard the airplane.

Unidentified tools used for evaluation

The main findings of the initiative prove the strength of the kingdom’s digital infrastructure to service the countries under the mandate of the National Information center without being susceptible to hacks, the efforts the Saudi government invested to ease the travel for pilgrims from 5 countries by coordinating with their respective governments to provide pre-clearance for all travelers pre-departure from their country.

The Makkah Route initiative was mandated by the Ministry of Interior shadowing several public and private entities to fully execute the service effectively. The entities beside Ministry of Interior (MOI) represented by General Directorate of Passports which is under Ministry of Interior included: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Elm Company, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, General Authority of Civil Aviation, Saudi Customs. For example, MOFA was responsible to obtain the required travel approvals for the targeted Hajj countries, and issue the necessary travel permits for the manpower, Elm Company prepared sanitized lounges to welcome the pilgrims and guide them in the airport and managed the configuration of the lounges, Ministry of Health coordinated with Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to add the pilgrims health certificates in their file, ensure health requirements are completed, and provide health services to pilgrims at the arrival terminal.

Several stakeholders were engaged across the departure station and arrival station of Hajj. The collaboration stakeholders included the governments of the five countries, since Saudi had to coordinate with the respective governments in order to obtain the required travel approvals for each pilgrim. The implementation stakeholders were Ministry of Interior (MOI) and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). MOI ensured completion and governed the daily follow-up reports. MOFA was responsible to obtain the required travel approvals for the targeted Hajj countries, and issue the necessary travel permits for the manpower. Stakeholders responsible on both stations include: Elm Company, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Hajj and Umrah, General Authority of Civil Aviation, Saudi Customs and Ministry of Interior (MOI)-General Directorate of Passports which is under Ministry of Interior.

The initiative showcases the Kingdom’s technical infrastructure strength to service other countries under the National Information Center without any hacks as well as strong cybersecurity capabilities, and the execution and agreement with other governments to ease the pilgrim’s trip from the country of departure.