Saudi Arabia promises more pilgrimage industry work visas

• Temporary visas for Hajj and umrah work
• More flexibility for seasonal labour
• Religious tourism vital to GDP

Saudi Arabia will issue more temporary work visas to those employed in the pilgrimage industry. 

A statement by the ministry of human resources said Hajj and umrah work would now be included in its temporary visa programme.

A half-year visa will cover the fasting month of Ramadan and the Hajj pilgrimage, which comes around three months later. 

The new rules will give the private sector more flexibility to use seasonal labour, the ministry said. The cabinet approved the measures this week. 

Saudi Arabia is trying to expand tourism from around 4 percent of GDP now to 10 percent by 2030. Religious tourism is central to the plans, and accounted for half of the 27.4 million tourists who visited the country in 2023. 

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Tourism was liberalised in 2019, with the introduction of easily obtained e-visas. Many pilgrims for the year-round umrah can obtain a visa on arrival, for example if they are resident in the EU, US or UK. 

Unemployment among Saudis, who form nearly 60 percent of the population, has fallen to 7.1 percent.

Tourism is one of the key sectors the government is encouraging Saudis to enter, raising the quotas of Saudi nationals, but there is still huge demand for labour because of the tourism expansion in Mecca and Medina. 

In 2016 the government launched a massive economic development plan led by the Public Investment Fund, with dozens of projects that have been valued at more than $1.25 trillion.