Plans on dividing the Grand Mosque into coded zones to facilitate spatial description

To ease the flow of worshippers and workers entering the Grand Mosque and its grounds in Makkah, Saudi Arabia is investigating the possibility of creating coded zones within the complex. In this respect, the Saudi Postal and Logistics Services Company (SPL) and the General Authority for the Care of the Affairs of the Grand Mosque and the Prophet’s Mosque signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU). Amidst the Hajj and Umrah Services Conference and Exhibition 2024, a signing ceremony took place.

To assist in precisely identifying geographic locations and ease spatial description to guide worshippers and employees across the vast mosque and its premises, SPL will conduct research under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding on the division of the Grand Mosque and its courtyards into coded zones. The agreement also aims to ensure the best standards of service are rendered at Islam's holiest site by measuring performance and allocating working individuals based on accommodations and operational capability.

Remarkably, the Grand Mosque saw the greatest number of Umrah pilgrims in its existence in the previous year. Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah, the Minister of Hajj and Umrah, has stated that over 13.5 million international tourists will conduct Umrah in 2023. According to the ministry, this number represented a 58 percent rise, or five million additional pilgrims, over the previous year.

The Saudi government is eager to make sure that complex plans and amenities are in place so that pilgrims doing the Hajj and Umrah may do so with ease and comfort.