UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque sees 70% increase in visitors in 2023
Since its inception, the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque Centre (SZGMC) has been promoting the mosque’s cultural message of tolerance and building bridges of rapprochement and dialogue between the world’s cultures. In addition to its role as a global centre for religious rites, the mosque has become a hub for tolerance and cultural and civilisational communication with various cultures of the world.
In 2023, the Centre continued its role in affirming the mosque’s position as a global cultural and tourist destination. The mosque achieved a remarkable increase in the total number of visitors in 2023, which recorded 70 per cent compared to 2022. The total number of visitors to the mosque reached 5,501,420, including 1,409,947 worshippers, of whom 619,664 performed daily prayers, 310,609 performed Friday prayers, and 434,719 performed Ramadan and Eid prayers.
The total number of visitors to the mosque reached 4,033,552. Additionally, 57,921 people used the mosque’s jogging track. Individuals accounted for 74 per cent of the total number of visitors to the mosque, with 3,000,880 visitors. Visitors in groups accounted for 26 per cent of the total number of visitors to the mosque, with 1,032,672 visitors, as official delegations represented a number of government institutions, educational institutions, embassies, private sector entities, and hotels, and the number of their individuals reached 20,172 visitors to the mosque among 1,272 reservations, including 330 highlevel delegations, which included 14 heads of state, 3 deputy heads of state, 10 parliament speakers, 8 prime ministers, 2 deputy prime ministers, 6 governors, 2 deputy governors and regional governors, 3 sheikhs and princes, 73 ministers, 14 deputy ministers, 39 ambassadors and consuls, 74 guests from the military sector, 12 representatives of religious denominations, and 64 visits by delegations from different entities.
The number of visitors from tourist companies was 1,012,500, within 54,555 bookings. All delegations learned about the mosque’s message of tolerance and cultural communication, and about the beauty of its unique Islamic architecture. The age group of 25 to 35 years old constituted the highest percentage of visitors to the mosque from different countries, reaching 34 per cent.
Visitors from outside the UAE accounted for 81 per cent of the mosque’s guests.