A total of 4.6 million Umrah visas have been issued until the middle of Shaban, an increase of 1.1 million visas compared to the same period in 2010, according to a statistical report released by the Umrah and Haj Agency at the Ministry of Haj. Umrah and Haj experts have attributed this 10-year record increase in Umrah visas to the mega development projects being carried out in Makkah, including the opening of the Zamzam Towers Project, adjacent to the Grand Mosque. The towers have contributed to increasing the accommodation capacity in the area. Another factor is the major developments in the city, including new roads and the railway projects. This has eased the movement of pilgrims and reduced traffic jams. There is also now a greater capacity in the courtyards around the Grand Mosque because of the King's expansion project. This has had a substantial impact on increasing the number of Umrah pilgrims. The report also touched on the increase in the number of Umrah performers from year to year. It stated there was an increase of 100,000 pilgrims in 2008 compared to 2007, 300,000 in 2009 and 200,000 in 2010. The report showed that three million Umrah pilgrims have already left for their countries since the start of the Umrah season in 2011 and 3,000 have remained in the country to complete their rituals. In an earlier report in Saudi Gazette the Chairman of the National Committee for Haj and Umrah, Sa'ad Jameel Al-Qurashi, commended the efforts of the organizations involved in serving those performing Umrah, and the classification of hotels in Makkah by the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (SCTA). Hotels in the holy city have the capacity to accommodate more than 1.4 million pilgrims a month, he said. __
