The participants in the 18^th Scientific Forum for Hajj and Umrah Research, during the closing event, expressed their thanks and appreciation to King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques- May Allah protect him, for his support to the forum. They, also, thanked HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, for his keenness and support for everything contributes to the development of Hajj, Umrah and the Two Holy Cities, as well as the wise leadership for facilitating procedures for pilgrims and visitors over and above the abundant support for scientific research; particularly the research submitted in the Forum of Hajj and Umrah.

 The researchers appreciated Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Nayef bin Abdulaziz is the Minister of Interior, Chairman of the Higher Committee of Hajj and Chairman of the Higher Supervisory Committee of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research, for his trust and support for the Institute. They, also, expressed appreciation to HRH Prince Khaled Al-Faisal bin Abdulaziz, the Governor of Mecca Province and Consultant of His Majesty the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, Deputy Chairman of the Higher Committee of Hajj and Chairman of the Central Hajj Committee, for his honor and inauguration of the forum and its exhibition on behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. In addition, the researchers thanked HRH Prince Faisal bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Governor of Madinah Region, Chairman of the Central Hajj Committee in Madinah, for his trust and continuous support to the Institute.

During the closing session of the forum, the participants recommended the necessity to study the proposal of establishing paths to kiss the Black Stone or to find other solutions, taking into account all Sharia-related, engineering, administrative and other aspects, in coordination with the relevant authorities. In addition, they recommended the study shading the Tawaf and the surrounding areas, increasing the number of prayers in the areas, and establishing automatic control systems to avoid the rise of relative humidity. The researchers, during the forum, called for stopping the burial of the remnants of the massacres in Wadi Al Herman and renovating it, establishing evaporation units for the disposal of liquid waste from the massacres during the Hajj season, and making use of solid waste by converting it to an added economic value.

The forum, during the closing session that was chaired by Dr. Abudllah bin Omar Bahussein Bafeel- Umm Al-Qura University President and the General Supervisor of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research, stressed on the importance of establishing a volunteer department in the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to organize volunteer work, updating the volunteers database annually, following up their own needs in coordination with the concerned bodies within and outside the ministry, and preparing training and guiding programs to develop the various skills of volunteers to improve and develop voluntary services provided in the Hajj and Umrah systems.

The closing statement of the forum included 23 recommendations. The top recommendation is about the development of an integrated system for the indicators of Hajj and Umrah facilities and services quality by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research in coordination with the various bodies so as to facilitate the production of these indicators to support decision makers and achieve the King vision 2030. Also, it recommended increasing attention to the endowments in the Two Holy Mosques and activating charitable work in the seasons of Hajj and Umrah in line with the Kingdom vision 2030. The statement referred to the importance of exploring and developing tourist and archaeological sites in the Kingdom, especially the Islamic monuments in the Two Holy Cities, and organizing tourist trips according to international standards.

The participants, in their closing statement, called for developing models for the measurement and management of balanced performance in Arbab Al-Tawaif Establishments and introducing computer programs to monitor performance and to present measurement results simultaneously; depending on online applications in administrative transactions to accelerate the transactions of pilgrims and visitors; enhancing the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah portal and expanding its application; providing an opportunity to all those who serve the guests of Hajj from their countries to benefit from the portal and adding their options and needs to maximize the benefit of it; and using the nanotechnology applications in the fields of nutrition, waste management and textiles used for Ihram clothes, and other services provided to visitors of Hajj.

The final recommendations pointed to updating the standards of Ihram clothing to be eco-friendly and preserve the health of pilgrims; working to increase health awareness of pilgrims from their country; stressing on the availability of the electronic health report of the history of pilgrims; training heads of pilgrimage campaigns on health education for pilgrims; increasing afforestation to improve the environment and reduce the level of air pollutants inside Mecca and the holy sites; benefiting from the qualities of trees that help to achieve this.

As for technology, the forum recommended using the remote sensing technology in disease vectors control so as to identify the environmental factors that control the proliferation of these vectors; developing the Islamic websites that provide content about Hajj and Umrah and updating them regularly; giving the attention to the content material and its presentation and update; activating the electronic guidance boards; adopting the info-graphic instructions to pilgrims in the holy sites.

With regard to its recommendations on the engineering studies, the closing statement stressed the necessity of restudying the work mechanism of regulatory bodies on the buildings where pilgrims stay so as to prevent the double standard, the overlap of specializations and the repeat of tasks; unifying traffic lanes in crowded areas to provide better traffic services; providing pick-up points for passengers on the borders of pedestrian areas; shortening the distances between the points of service and different sites within the holy places; developing a comprehensive risk management strategy to reduce the incidence of disasters during the Hajj season; benefiting from the modern techniques to monitor and control the behavior of crowds to avoid negative behavior among them; and adopting the general principles to achieve the security and safety of crowds in large gatherings.

The participants underscored the importance of the early preparation of (No Hajj without Clearance) campaign, giving enough time to make arrangements for the deployment of forces, conducting experiments and hypotheses and intensifying the security awareness in various media outlets and social media, in addition to indicating the consequences of any violation. They call on the organizers of Hajj and delegations of Hajj missions from all countries to hold periodic meetings so as to identify the behavior of pilgrims coming from those countries as well as the political, security, social, cultural and religious conditions in these countries, before the arrival of their individuals to the pilgrimage so that the bodies will be able to deal with pilgrims in safe ways that secure their safety.

The statement concluded its recommendations with the necessity of launching community awareness campaigns among pilgrims to introduce the risk of medical waste and ways to deal with it. Also, it is necessary to present a special program to deal with medical waste in the homes of pilgrims as well as training the productive families and raising their awareness on the correct ways to maintain the safety and quality of food provided to the guests of Hajj.

The participants expressed their thanks to the Minister of Education, a member of the Supervisory Committee of the Institute, for his support to the University as well as his follow-up and guidance to achieve the goals of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah Research.  They also thanked the Minister of Hajj and Umrah, a member of the Supervisory Committee of the Institute, for his support and encouragement to achieve the objectives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Hajj and Umrah.

The forum, during six scientific sessions and a session for the scientific posters, discussed 46 scientific research papers, in addition to eleven working papers. This was with the participation of a number of researchers and interested persons and experts from Saudi universities as well as government and private bodies.