“Shop is back,” shouts Abdullah Mekhlafi at the shop where he sells prayer rugs in Islam’s holiest city, which is preparing for the biggest influx of Hajj pilgrims since the coronavirus pandemic began.
Two years of drastic restrictions on the number of pilgrims who could perform the Hajj left shops and hotels empty in the Saudi Arabian city of Mecca. But business owners are hoping for a quick recovery as hundreds of thousands of believers flock to the region this week.
“We’ve had few customers (over the last two Hajj seasons) but today business is back, thank goodness. It’s the same as before and even better,” Mekhlafi, 30, told AFP.
A million people, including 850,000 from abroad, will be admitted to this year’s Hajj, one of the five pillars of Islam that all sane Muslims with the means must perform at least once in their lives.
In 2019, around 2.5 million people took part in the rituals, including the circumambulation of the Kaaba in the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the gathering at Mount Arafat and the “stoning of the devil” in Mina.
The following year, after the pandemic took hold, foreigners were barred and the total number of worshipers capped at 10,000 to prevent the hajj from becoming a global super-spreader.
That number rose to 60,000 fully vaccinated Saudi citizens and residents by 2021.
– Restoration of the old splendor –
The Hajj, which costs at least US$5,000 per person, and Umrah pilgrimages that take place at other times of the year are typically a significant source of income for Saudi Arabia, particularly for the tourism sector.
In normal times, they generate about $12 billion (11.5 billion euros) annually and keep the economy in Mecca running.
The city has seen a construction boom in recent years that has spawned new malls, apartment buildings and luxury hotels – some offering spectacular views of the sacred Kaaba, the large black cubic structure at the center of the Grand Mosque to which all Muslims worship.
But those projects have been starved for clients during the pandemic, meaning their owners have been cheered by scenes that unfolded in Mecca as early as Monday, two days before the Hajj officially begins.
Believers in white robes flocked to souvenir and barber shops in the city of two million.
And the main shopping mall near the Grand Mosque, where many hotels are located, was packed with pilgrims again, a far cry from a year ago when the area looked almost deserted.
Amin, a perfume shop owner, expressed optimism about his prospects, telling AFP his losses could be recovered this year.
“There is a big difference between this year and the past ones. This year we can see many pilgrims bringing glory back to the Grand Mosque,” he said.
“The losses were big, but things are going better now.”
– boom times –
The changes in Mecca follow Saudi Arabia’s recent economic fortunes.
During the pandemic, the kingdom has faced a sharp drop in oil prices due to a slump in global demand, prompting austerity measures including tripling VAT and cutting allowances for civil servants.
Things seem to have changed, particularly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
In early May, Saudi Arabia reported the fastest rate of economic growth in a decade as a booming oil sector fueled a 9.6 percent increase in the first quarter from the same period in 2021.
“The impact of the losses over the past two years has been significant, but we are beginning to see a business-level recovery and this year’s Hajj is good news,” said Salem Ali Shahran, operations manager of the largest hotel chain in Mecca.
“Current numbers are 40 percent up from 2019 levels. We hope for larger numbers in the years to come.”
Saudi Arabia’s GDP is expected to grow 7.6 percent in 2022, the International Monetary Fund said in April.
The world’s largest oil exporter is trying to diversify its economy, a key pillar of the Vision 2030 reform agenda being pushed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the de facto ruler.
Tourism is a crucial part of this plan, which makes a booming Hajj all the more important.
The current goal for Saudi Arabia is to triple overseas tourism this year as pandemic restrictions ease, Ahmed Al Khateeb, the tourism minister, told AFP in an interview last month.
Of the 100 million foreign and domestic tourists targeted for 2030, 30 million are expected to make religious trips, mostly to Mecca and Medina, Islam’s two holiest sites.
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