Technology Guides Pilgrim Flow at the Grand Mosque During Ramadan

Ramadan brings millions of pilgrims and Muslims to the Grand Mosque, making crowd management one of the most complex operational challenges at the holy site. Authorities state that a new system is being used this year to monitor and manage visitor movements throughout the mosque and surrounding plazas, relying on real-time data and coordinated planning. The General Authority for the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques told Arab News that operations during peak periods are coordinated through a central technical command and control centre. Indicators of crowd density and pilgrim flow speeds from across the mosque complex feed into the system in real time, allowing supervisors to adjust entry and exit routes and respond to congestion points as they arise, as cited from Arab News on Wednesday (18/3/2026). Cleaning and emergency teams are also deployed based on anticipated crowd patterns rather than waiting for calls. The integrated system guides these decisions by assessing three factors: current crowd density, operational sensitivity of a location, and risk level. An interactive digital map launched by the authorities provides real-time visual data to field supervisors to support these decisions.