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Report: Over 19.5 Million International Pilgrims and Umrah Performers in 2025

Makkah ranked fifth globally in the index of cities receiving the highest numbers of international visitors - SPA
Makkah ranked fifth globally in the index of cities receiving the highest numbers of international visitors - SPA
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Report: Over 19.5 Million International Pilgrims and Umrah Performers in 2025

Makkah ranked fifth globally in the index of cities receiving the highest numbers of international visitors - SPA
Makkah ranked fifth globally in the index of cities receiving the highest numbers of international visitors - SPA

The Pilgrim Experience Program (PEP), one of Saudi Vision 2030 realization programs, has issued its 2025 Annual Report under the theme “Honor and Impact,” highlighting the most notable achievements of the Pilgrim Experience ecosystem and the outcomes of its initiatives and projects in continuously developing the services provided to pilgrims, Umrah performers, and visitors.

These efforts aim to enhance the quality of their journey and enrich their experience, from the planning stage through to their return to their home countries.

The report stated that the PEP implemented 87 initiatives in 2025 in partnership with more than 60 implementing entities, achieving a 100% compliance rate in initiative implementation. This underscores the Kingdom’s longstanding, deeply rooted commitment to serving pilgrims and contributes to achieving the objectives of Saudi Vision 2030, which aims to elevate the quality of services provided to pilgrims and visitors.

The report indicated that, in 2025, more than 19.5 million pilgrims and Umrah performers from abroad arrived in Saudi Arabia, including 18.03 million Umrah performers and 1.5 million pilgrims. The number of Umrah performers increased by 114% compared with 2022, representing a significant achievement that reflects the ecosystem’s readiness and the efficiency of the services provided.

Despite continued growth in visitor numbers, the indicators of pilgrim experience satisfaction remained high. Hajj pilgrim satisfaction reached 91%, while Umrah performer satisfaction reached 94%, exceeding the Saudi Vision 2030 targets for both indicators.

In addition, Al-Rawdah Al-Sharifah welcomed more than 16 million visitors in 2025, while visitor satisfaction increased to 88%, up from 57% in 2022. These results demonstrate the impact of the efforts undertaken to improve services and facilitate the performance of rituals in accordance with the highest standards of quality and efficiency.

As part of efforts to enrich the religious and cultural experience, the report stated that the number of developed and visitor-ready historical sites and enrichment destinations in Makkah and Madinah increased to 87, attracting more than 55 million visits. This milestone enriches the pilgrims' experience and strengthens their connection to Islamic historical heritage.

Regarding enhancing community participation, the report recorded 184,569 male and female volunteers serving pilgrims and visitors in 2025. This reflects the growing culture of volunteerism among the people of the Kingdom and highlights its pivotal role in improving service quality.

The Kingdom also achieved advanced positions in international rankings. Makkah ranked fifth globally in the index of cities receiving the highest numbers of international visitors, while Madinah ranked seventh globally in the Tourism Performance Index.

As part of the continued development of digital services, the report indicated that a total of 15.03 million visas, including Umrah, visit, and other categories were issued, with Umrah visas accounting for 83% of the total. Pakistan, Indonesia, and Egypt were the leading countries in terms of Umrah visa arrivals, reflecting the integration of efforts to facilitate pilgrims' and visitors' journeys and enhance their overall experience.

The report concluded by affirming that these efforts contribute to fulfilling the aspirations of Saudi Vision 2030 and embody the Kingdom’s leading role in serving the Two Holy Mosques and those who visit them.

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Etna Ash Keeps Catania Airport Shut Until Friday, Disrupting Summer Travel

A drone view of volcanic ash and lava during an eruption at Mount Etna, forcing authorities to suspend flights at Catania airport, in Sicily, Italy, August 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view of volcanic ash and lava during an eruption at Mount Etna, forcing authorities to suspend flights at Catania airport, in Sicily, Italy, August 12, 2026. (Reuters)
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Etna Ash Keeps Catania Airport Shut Until Friday, Disrupting Summer Travel

A drone view of volcanic ash and lava during an eruption at Mount Etna, forcing authorities to suspend flights at Catania airport, in Sicily, Italy, August 12, 2026. (Reuters)
A drone view of volcanic ash and lava during an eruption at Mount Etna, forcing authorities to suspend flights at Catania airport, in Sicily, Italy, August 12, 2026. (Reuters)

Flights at Catania airport in Sicily will remain suspended until early Friday because of ash from Mount Etna's ongoing volcanic activity, which has forced hundreds of flights to be cancelled or rerouted over the past week.

All arrivals and departures at the island hub, Italy's fifth-busiest airport by passenger traffic, will be ‌suspended through 2 ‌a.m. local time on ‌August ⁠14, airport operator ⁠SAC said in a statement late on Wednesday.

Passengers were advised to check the status of their flights with their airlines before travelling to the airport.

The prolonged restrictions come at ⁠the height of the summer holiday ‌season, affecting thousands ‌of passengers, and have placed additional pressure ‌on Sicily's other airports.

Mount Etna, Europe's ‌highest and most active volcano, frequently disrupts operations at Catania airport, whose operator launched the sale of a stake of at ‌least 51% in May.

Marco Viccaro, president of the Italian Volcanological Association, ⁠said ⁠the activity at Etna, which began on August 6, is more energetic than previous episodes and is continuing in a sustained way.

"This suggests that deeper, gas-rich magma is playing a more active role, making the fragmentation process more efficient and leading to increased ash production, which is severely disrupting air traffic to and from Catania airport," he added.

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Canadian Wildfire That Forced 20,000 to Flee May Signal ‘New Normal’

Smoke rises from the Brunswick Creek wildfire, looking north over the Fraser River near Boston Bar, British Columbia, Canada, August 11, 2026 in an aerial photograph. (BC Wildfire/Handout via Reuters)
Smoke rises from the Brunswick Creek wildfire, looking north over the Fraser River near Boston Bar, British Columbia, Canada, August 11, 2026 in an aerial photograph. (BC Wildfire/Handout via Reuters)
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Canadian Wildfire That Forced 20,000 to Flee May Signal ‘New Normal’

Smoke rises from the Brunswick Creek wildfire, looking north over the Fraser River near Boston Bar, British Columbia, Canada, August 11, 2026 in an aerial photograph. (BC Wildfire/Handout via Reuters)
Smoke rises from the Brunswick Creek wildfire, looking north over the Fraser River near Boston Bar, British Columbia, Canada, August 11, 2026 in an aerial photograph. (BC Wildfire/Handout via Reuters)

A wildfire that forced more than 20,000 people from their homes in western Canada moved so quickly that crews had to abandon firefighting to help residents escape, a pace British Columbia’s premier said Wednesday may represent a “new normal.”

The Bald Range wildfire erupted Friday near Summerland, a community of about 12,000 in British Columbia’s Okanagan region. By Wednesday, it had grown to about 184 square kilometers (71 square miles) after destroying homes and killing an 80-year-old woman.

"There’s an important set of lessons for us to take about how quickly this moved and that this may be our new normal for fire speed," Premier David Eby said. He said the blaze outpaced wildfire modeling and left some residents with little time to evacuate.

Officials have begun damage assessments, but the area remained unsafe Wednesday and there was no timeline for residents to return.

Crews were clearing vegetation to help slow the fire’s spread as officials warned that thunderstorms could bring erratic winds and increase fire activity. Highway 97, a major route through the area, remained closed.

Eby visited an evacuation reception center in Penticton, where he said he met people devastated by the loss of their homes.

“A lot of emotions in there, obviously,” he told reporters, calling the woman’s death a “tragic loss.”

Summerland pharmacist Jonathan Kiesman said he was worried about displaced patients getting their medications and said seeing the fire approach the community “almost brought tears to my eyes.”

Officials said they were withholding broader details on property losses until residents could be notified directly.

“The last thing that I would want is somebody to have the shock of finding out on social media or on television about their home being lost,” British Columbia Emergency Management Minister Kelly Greene said.

Eby said the province would review the response, including whether changes are needed to wildfire planning, building standards and vegetation management near communities.

Given the drought and summer heat, he warned, “this is very unlikely to be the last significant fire we see this summer.”

Summerland Mayor Doug Holmes warned that recovery would be long and difficult.

Canada has endured a series of severe wildfire seasons in recent years, with smoke repeatedly drifting into the United States. In record-setting 2023, fires burned more than 14.6 million hectares (36 million acres), an area roughly the size of Illinois.

Canada has warmed faster than the global average in recent decades, while the amount of land burned by wildfires has increased substantially. Much of the country’s forest is remote and dominated by spruce and pine, conditions that can make fires difficult to contain once they become established.

Varieties

Afghan Students Divided over Smartphone Ban at Universities

The Taliban authorities have taken steps to control Afghans' access to technology. Wakil KOHSAR / AFP
The Taliban authorities have taken steps to control Afghans' access to technology. Wakil KOHSAR / AFP
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Afghan Students Divided over Smartphone Ban at Universities

The Taliban authorities have taken steps to control Afghans' access to technology. Wakil KOHSAR / AFP
The Taliban authorities have taken steps to control Afghans' access to technology. Wakil KOHSAR / AFP

Forced to leave their smartphones off campus, Afghan university students are divided over whether the new anti-tech rule has disrupted their studies or done wonders for their concentration.

Soon after Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada ordered government workers to stop using smartphones in June, the ban was also imposed in the world of academia.

A 29-year-old student in the capital Kabul said a staffer had "visited the classrooms and announced that from now onwards, we are not allowed to bring smartphones to the university".

In the western city of Herat, notices posted on the walls of a university and its dorm warned that anyone caught with a smartphone on campus would face "legal action".

No reason was given to students who spoke to AFP, some of whom requested anonymity for security reasons.

At Kandahar University in southern Afghanistan, spokesman Nazir Ahmad Qadari said the move aimed to ensure students "pay attention to their lectures, studies and practical work".

Fifty-eight percent of countries ban mobile phones in schools, citing classroom distraction and risks to wellbeing, according to a March report by UNESCO which made no mention of university bans.

The Taliban authorities have ruled for nearly five years and have taken steps to control Afghans' access to technology without saying why.

Last year, broadband access was restricted in several provinces for weeks, before the government unexpectedly cut off the internet and phone networks nationwide for two days.

Despite this, smartphones are widely used and billboards in cities advertise the latest internet deals.

- 'Can't study properly' -

At universities, the ban has restricted access to online research and course materials, with one Herat student saying he had used his phone to help with about half the syllabus.

"If the explanation was not good, we used our phones to take photos and videos of the slides or the writing on the board, so we could review them later," the 21-year-old said.

That view was shared in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, where a 22-year-old journalism student told AFP: "We can't study properly without smartphones".

The human rights director for the United Nations mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), Fiona Frazer, said there "may be sound reasons to manage students' use of technology".

However, UNAMA had concerns about government restrictions that limit "access to information, freedom of expression" and the ability to participate fully in daily life.

Back in Kabul, the 29-year-old student said time-saving artificial intelligence tools are now out of reach, while people now have to carry dozens of physical books around campus instead of using e-books.

There is no ban on laptops, but many students cannot afford one.

The student, who is also a freelance translator, has also found it hard to concentrate on lectures knowing he could be missing out on work opportunities.

"I need to check my emails and WhatsApp every other minute, because I receive messages from my clients... if I don't answer, I can lose the offer," he said.

Although he can pay the 10 Afghanis ($0.15) fee to store his smartphone at the university entrance, he said it's difficult for others "because most of the students are not financially stable".

- Improved grades -

A second Kabul student, 28, said he had bought a basic phone which he was allowed to use on campus to make calls.

But he complained of the extra expense and being "deprived of the current technology".

However, not everyone opposes the ban.

In Kandahar, home of the supreme leader, medical student Sanaullah Yousufzai said the rule had improved relations between teachers and students.

"We can better focus on the lessons and lectures; there are no more interruptions due to calls," said Yousufzai.

But the 25-year-old remained worried that he might not be able to reach his family in an emergency.

For journalism student Mohammad Hakim Haqmal, 22, the change had seen his score improve from 75 to 80 percent.

Although his classmates had been using their phones to get information for their studies, they were also wasting time on social media.

After the ban, "they tried harder, studied well, and got better results".