More than 2.5m Umrah visas issued so far

Muslim worshippers perform the evening prayers at the Kaaba, Islam's holiest shrine, at the Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia's holy city of Mkkah, in this photo taken on August 25, 2017. (AFP)

• The Vision 2030 reform plan aims to attract more than 30 million Umrah pilgrims, and provide them with excellent services

JEDDAH: The number of Umrah visas issued this year has reached 2,555,201, of which 2,183,031 pilgrims have arrived in the Kingdom, according to data provided by the Hajj and Umrah Ministry.
There are 408,611 pilgrims still in the Kingdom, with 286,568 in Makkah and 122,043 in Madinah.
Most pilgrims — 1,991,448 — came to the Kingdom by air, while 184,580 entered by land and 7,003 arrived by sea.
The largest number of pilgrims are from Pakistan (600,015) followed by Indonesia (394,027), India (281,589), Malaysia (130,793), Yemen (113,247), Egypt (63,217), Turkey (60,086), the UAE (56,412) and Bangladesh (52,848).
The Vision 2030 reform plan aims to attract more than 30 million Umrah pilgrims, and provide them with excellent services.
Last year, the ministry launched a weekly indicator whereby authorities can track the number of pilgrims coming into the Kingdom, and in turn enrich their experiences by providing high-quality services.