The Safa digital platform won first place in the KAUST challenge for healthcare applications theme
document.createElement('video'); https://safavisa.com/downloads/kaust.mp4 In the presence of His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al-Faisal and his deputy, His Royal Highness Prince Badr bin Sultan. The Safa digital platform won first place in the KAUST challenge for healthcare applications theme. The challenge organized by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) to find...
Indonesia aims to be top ‘halal’ destination
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya (Pesona Indonesia/File) As the most populous Muslim-majority nation, the country is aiming for the top spot on the Global Muslim Travel Index (GMTI), as part of an effort to achieve the foreign tourist arrival target of 20 million this year. “We’re aiming for ‘halal’ tourism to see growth of 42 percent this year,” said Tourism Minister Arief Yahya in a statement...
Mecca’s First Photographers: “No One Before Me Has Ever Taken Such Photographs”
From the mid-19th century onward, photography began to play an immense role in relation to the history of the hajj. This was the case because for the first time ever, the pilgrimage, the pilgrims, and the holy cities themselves could be documented in the form of accurate, realistic and reproducible images. Muhammad Sadiq Bey Visual recordings of the hajj and of the cities of Mecca and Medina...
Over 8,800 Umrah pilgrims so far
MAKKAH — The Ministry of Haj and Umrah has said as many as 8,801 Umrah pilgrims arrived in the Kingdom since the season began on Muharram 1 (Sept. 12). The ministry said until now the Kingdom’s diplomatic and consular missions abroad issued more than 75,000 Umrah visas. Under new arrangements, the Umrah pilgrims are allowed to visit various parts of the Kingdom and not to confine their stay...
These are the countries travelers in the Middle East visit the most
the largest online travel marketplace in the MENA region – recently revealed the top destinations for travelers in the Middle East … and Egypt took the No.1 spot in the ranking. According to the report – which is based on users’ flight and hotel search activity on Wego during the second quarter of 2018 – travelers in the Middle East and North Africa most...
How an app helped pilgrims complete the last formal rite of Hajj
Under the instructions of the Ministry of Haj and Umrah, an app was tested this Hajj season to know the best time pilgrims wished to perform tawaf Al-Ifada, according to Makkah daily newspaper on Tuesday. Tawaf Al-Ifada is the last formal rite of Hajj, in which pilgrims visit the holy Kaaba for the farewell circumambulation. This new step was aimed at organizing the grouping of the pilgrims...
WHO praises Health Ministry’s ‘exceptional’ work during Hajj
The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) praised the services provided by the Health Ministry to Hajj pilgrims, and the efforts exerted to care for them and maintain their health. In a tweet on his official Twitter account, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus congratulated the ministry on the successful Hajj season, describing its work as “exceptional.” Earlier, Health Minister...
Malaysia aims to be the cleanest at this year’s Hajj
Malaysia’s Hajj Pilgrimage Fund, Tabung Hajji, has decided to kick-start a massive cleanliness campaign among Malaysian pilgrims during Hajj, as a step to ensure the tents in Mina are “the cleanest among other nations.” Tabung Hajji will head the massive “gotong-royong” exercise for the first time in the tent city of Mina during Masyair. “Gotong-royong” has a strong cultural root in Malaysian...
The World Hajj and Umrah Convention 2018 Targets 30 Million Journey Visitors Every Year
The World Hajj and Umrah Conventions 2018, targeting 30 million visitors to Saudi Arabia each year. Safabooking.com as a representative of Umrah industry players in Indonesia welcomed the optimist target. The convention, held at The Crystal, Royal Victoria London, UK, was attended by government representatives from the 10 most populous Muslim countries on 30 April to 1 May 2018. Participants...
