Saudi Ambassador to Egypt Osama Al-Nuqali warned Egyptians from the fake Hajj trip advertisements through social media platforms, noting that the current period always witnesses spreading fake advertisements that circumvent citizens. The ambassador urged Egyptian citizens to deal with the regular and trusted channel, adding, “Please be careful of these phantom ads in order not to fall prey to them.” The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology announced new electronic apps, including the Hajj Zaki initiative or Smart Hajj, to facilitate the Hajj trip. A group of talented university professors, post-doctoral researchers, PhD students, and professional developers are working on Smart Hajj to provide pilgrims with the best experience during their visits to Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj and Umrah. The suite of services is designed to assist authorities to improve Hajj and Umrah services, improve Hajj organisation through better understanding of pilgrims' individual and crowd spatial and temporal behaviour, and the need to protect pilgrims' environment through environmental monitoring. The Ministry of Hajj and Umrah carries out its duties in coordination with the government and local authorities to facilitate observance of pilgrimage, control and regulate services through the development of systems, use of technology, increasing the effectiveness of staff to serve pilgrims, and performance of infrastructure works with core focus on offering religious hospitality in compliance with international standards, according to the official website of the Hajj and Umrah Ministry.
