Saudi Arabia chooses Morocco as the only Arab country in the “Road to Mecca” initiative
With its professional security measures and high level of professionalism, Morocco continues to earn the trust of major nations around the world, including Saudi Arabia, which chose it as the only Arab country to be included in the “Road to Mecca” initiative.
In this regard, Morocco will be among the 7 countries chosen by Saudi Arabia to be included in the “Road to Mecca” initiative, due to a set of reasons and conditions set by the Saudi authorities to facilitate the pilgrim mission and customs, respectively.
The Saudi Ministry of Interior will implement the “Road to Mecca” initiative under the Merciful Guest Service Program for the sixth year, through dedicated halls in 11 airports in 7 countries, namely the Morocco, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Ivory Coast.
The “Road to Mecca” initiative aims to provide high-quality transportation services to the guests of the Merciful from the beneficiary countries, including to the Kingdom, by receiving and facilitating their procedures in their countries with ease, starting with the issuance of electronic pilgrimage visas and collection of biometric data, going through the formalities of the General Directorate of Passports to complete entry procedures to the Kingdom from the airport of departure after verification of health conditions, by coding and sorting baggage according to transport and accommodation arrangements in the Kingdom, and heading straight to buses to transport them to their places of stay in Makkah and Medina, on dedicated routes, while partners load to carry their luggage to them.
The pilot phase of the Route to Mecca initiative was launched in 2018, then in 2019 the initiative was launched in its full form, bringing a step change in enriching the experience of pilgrims coming from 7 country as a first step, enabling them to benefit from high-quality services throughout their journey to the Kingdom.
Upon arrival in the Kingdom, pilgrims and their luggage are transported directly to their place of stay in Mecca or Medina. Through the Route to Mecca initiative, the Kingdom has reduced the time spent by the pilgrim at passport checkpoints to just a few minutes.
