Sixth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

Hajj links Muslims archeologically through the generations as well as geologically to other Muslims from other parts of the world at any specific time. It is one of the most significant amalgamating components in the Muslim Umma, being a journey that symbolizes a huge change in the spiritual and social life of each Muslim person. This research focusinges on bettering Hajj crowd management, particularly at its’ main locations; Arafat, Mina, and Muzdalifah. These are the main locations where crown disasters tend to happen. The methodology used involved interviews as a qualitative approach with a purposeful sample of fifteen people amongst a sample of people who have performed the Hajj pilgrimage during any time of their lives. Be it once, twice, or more. Amongst these individuals that have already performed the Hajj pilgrimage, are the officials and authorities that organize the Hajj pilgrimage event on an annual basis. Findings revealed that congestion during Hajj is unavoidable due to the millions of people located in one area at a time with elderly pilgrims walking and resting in odd places, cars and busses are in the same lanes as walking pilgrims, garbage not being cleaned in a periodic manner tends to pile up and cause pilgrims to walk slower than normal which causes traffic. Recommendations for the right authorities to work together as possible in all major locations of the Hajj pilgrimage event will enable casualties, disasters and crisis to be minimized to a point.