Mecca hoteliers build better and bigger for a new generation of wealthier pilgrims

The pilgrimage starts with a private jet to an exclusive airport in Saudi Arabia, where passengers are treated to a buffet while travel-company employees process their immigration documents. The visitors are then taken in luxury cars and buses to the InterContinental Hotel overlooking the Grand Mosque in Makkah.

“We try to make it a little more comfortable for our clients, that’s all,” said Abdul Rahman Mohammad Al Shaya, a sales executive for Kuwait-based Al Marwa.