This means people won't have to visit visa centres in their respective countries.

More than a year of travel restrictions that came into force after the world went into lockdown, has prompted governments, airlines and the tourism sector to find innovative ways to ensure safe travel. This has led to several digital enhancements in the Middle East, including the introduction of apps that can be used to access PCR test results, along with systems that are allowing verification of a person's health via virtual records.

The need to make travel safe by introducing contactless services for almost everything, has led to adoption of facial recognition at Dubai airport, and use of robots at grand mosques in Saudi Arabia. To speed up procedures for traveling as it reopens doors for pilgrims at holy sites, the kingdom has now launched a smartphone app which replaces visits to offices for getting a visa.

Introduced for those hoping to visit the country for annual Hajj and Umrah pilgrimage, the platform is equipped for self registration of biometrics of each applicant. They don't need to visit any official in person, since their visa will be processed online after verifying credentials.

Apart from transforming the age old tradition with a futuristic approach, Saudi Arabia has also become the world's first country to facilitate registration of biometrics via smartphones. Once the pilgrims reach Saudi Arabia, the biometrics recorded through the app will be verified so that they could proceed.

Before this development, the Saudi regime has already used digital verification and online services to make sure the annual Hajj was performed with social distancing norms. Apart from this Saudi Arabia has also used robots to sanitise grand mosques and distribute holy water, apart from issuing religious advise during the pilgrimage.

In other parts of the Middle East, airlines have also installed touch-free services for passengers to access entertainment on board and the lounge with minimum human contact. What started as necessity for ensuring that Hajj continues despite a pandemic, has now started to shape up as a promising push for digitisation of the ritual.