Saudi Arabia nets $16.5 bn from pilgrimages year 2012

Saudi Arabia raised $16.5 billion from Muslim pilgrimages this year to Mecca and Medina in the west of the kingdom, a Saudi newspaper reported.Al-Hayat, citing religious tourism sources, said a total of 12 million pilgrims visited Islam's holiest sites during the annual hajj which took place this year at the end of October or for the year-long umra, or minor pilgrimage.The pilgrims/including 3.1 million who made the hajj, including 1.7 million from abroad, according to official figures/spent 62 billion riyals ($16.5 billion), a rise of 10npercent over 2011 because of  increased costs.