MAKKAH, 31 March 2004 — Khalil Bahader is a living reminder that the annual Haj is, among other things, good business. A guide for pilgrims in Makkah, he comes from a long line of guides or mutawif and has played a major role in modernizing services for pilgrims.
In the late 1960s and early ‘70s, he was the first guide to provide electricity for pilgrims’ tents. This led to air conditioning, television and a host of other facilities.
“One thing naturally led to another and now pilgrims have access to fax machines and computers,” he told Arab News.
“In 1993 there were heavy rains in Makkah which damaged both the tents and their furnishings. This led me to think of using metal accommodation in place of tents. In the fire of 1997, the metal resisted the flames better than tents.”
There have been changes for the better, he said, but some things have been lost. “It’s much more organized now. People working in the profession now belong to the Pilgrim Guides’ Organization, and this is a positive change,” he said.
“At the same time, guides in the past used to travel to the pilgrims’ countries, stay there for six months and then bring them to Makkah. The guides were responsible for the pilgrims from their arrival in the Kingdom until their departure. That has been lost.”
As the guides’ responsibilities shrink, many of them have taken up other jobs on the side.
Pilgrims who used to stay in the Kingdom for up to four months now only stay for four weeks. The guides thus have more time and they often work in other jobs related to Haj and Umrah.
Working as a guide can be a help with other jobs. “When I first started doing other jobs, I did more than one in a single day. I was a teacher in the morning and worked at a car salesroom in the afternoon. At night, I worked in a night school, and when that was over in a sports club.”
But now all his work is related to the pilgrimage and serving pilgrims — he owns a group of hotels called the White Castle in central Makkah near the Grand Mosque.
Other guides have followed suit, opening hotels or providing food and tents for pilgrims.
But now Bahader is branching out, opening a tourism project in Taif. Called Bahader Plaza, it is a tourism, commercial, entertainment and sports center with eight levels. It took almost four years to complete and the cost was SR120 million. Bahader has high hopes for it.
