Urban Logistics Associated With Religious Tourism: The Case of the Hajj in Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Except for the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, millions of Muslims travel each year to Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for the Hajj pilgrimage, which is one of the 5 pillars of Islam. While much work has been done on the spiritual dimensions of the pilgrimage, this is not the case for its logistical dimensions. Yet, hosting millions of pilgrims in a confined urban space and for a short period of time ‒a few days‒ introduces enormous logistical challenges. This article’s objective is to highlight the importance of 2 key dimensions in the context of the Hajj: the challenges of the massification of pilgrim flows over the years; the correlative urgency of crowd control to avoid potentially tragic stampedes. More broadly, it is essential to examine the implications of the democratization of religious tourism for sustainable urban logistics, which is a research topic that has not been much investigated in management for the moment, despite the importance of pilgrimages on a global scale.