domestic worshipper pays around SR4, 948 ($1,319). Expenses include housing, food and water, gifts and phone bills.”
However, another Jeddah-based English newspaper “The Arab News” had published far higher Haj revenues of Saudi government in 2013.
In its January 5, 2013 edition, the “Arab News” had stated: “Economists have estimated the Kingdom’s revenues from Haj and Umrah services in 2012 at more than SR 62 billion ($16.5 billion), 10 per cent up from 2011 figures. They also said that Haj revenue accounted for three percent of the country’s GDP.”
It is imperative to note that the “Arab News” has a circulation of nearly 52,000 daily and is one of the 29 publications published by the Saudi Research and Publishing Company, which is headed by King Salman’s son Prince Turki bin Salman Al Saud.
In its October 25, 2012 edition, the prestigious BBC had quoted the Makkah Chamber of Commerce and Industry as saying that during the 2011 Haj season, the 10-day event had generated some $10 billion.
The BBC had maintained: “The annual occasion has become a lucrative business in recent years, proving a great financial asset to the economy of the oil-rich kingdom. Many pilgrims, however, struggle to reconcile their spiritual needs with their wallets. However much it costs, Muslims will not stop coming to this spiritual and also commercial hub. They simply cannot do Haj anywhere else.”
Meanwhile, this is what a leading British newspaper “The Guardian” had stated in one of its November 2010 editions: “The government’s Commission for Tourism and Antiquities said revenue from tourism this year (2010) would reach $17.6bn, then almost double again by 2015.”
In its November 29, 2009 reports, a key Russian news agency “Sputnik” had reported: “Saudi Arabia’s annual revenue from organising pilgrimage to Islamic holy places tops $30 billion.”
The “Sputnik” had basically quoted a 2009 report of the UAE-based “Gulf News,” which had written a few days earlier that the average cost of sacrificed animals averaged $130 per pilgrim and other expenses included purchases of gifts and spending on telecommunications.
“The Gulf News” had further viewed: “Over two million Muslims have been visiting Makkah, Madina and other holy places in Saudi Arabia every Haj season in recent years. Millions of Muslims also perform Umrah or “mini pilgrimage” throughout the year. Saudi Arabia’s revenues from pilgrimage to Islamic holy places account for about 7 per cent of the country’s GDP.”