ISLAMABAD: All her life, Ayesha Gul hoped that one day she would be standing in Islam’s holiest site in Makkah. The dream came true this month when Saudi Arabia relaxed visa rules for pilgrimage.

In mid-October, Saudi Hajj and Umrah Minister Dr. Tawfiq Al-Rabiah announced that women no longer needed a male guardian, or mahram, to visit the Kingdom to perform Hajj or Umrah.

Gul, who lives in Rawalpindi, a city adjacent to the Pakistani capital Islamabad, traveled soon after the announcement.

“It was my dream to visit the home of Allah and I still cannot believe that my dream came true, and I am actually sitting in front of Haram,” she told Arab News from Makkah.

“There is no gender discrimination and Saudis are treating women as equally as men.”

Under the new rules, visas have been extended to three months and pilgrims can travel to other areas of the Kingdom.

“All these measures speak volumes about the help being extended by King Salman and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for pilgrims across the globe,” said Hamzah Gilani, a spokesperson for the Pakistani consulate in Jeddah.

According to Saudi authorities, about 1.27 million pilgrims have visited Saudi Arabia since Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar which began on July 30. About 200,000 came from Pakistan, the second highest number after Indonesia.

“We have a long season ahead,” Travel Agents’ Association of Pakistan President Nadeem Zaka told Arab News. “More people will travel after getting information about the visa relaxation.”

The number has already increased by an estimated 30 percent, according to Faizan Akhtar, a member of Pakistan’s Umrah Travel Agents’ Association.

“We used to send one or two groups of four to six people every week which has now increased to three to four groups of about six individuals, despite increased air fares due to the dollar rate,” he said.

“We have also sent many women independently to perform Umrah since the Saudi authorities have allowed them to travel without a male member of the family.”

The relaxation of where pilgrims can travel has also helped Pakistani men.

Ahsan Khan, from Mardan, said he performed Umrah on Oct. 15 and was planning to visit his cousin in Dammam, something he would not have been able to do under the old system.

“Now we can perform Umrah and also meet our relatives in the Kingdom,” he said. “It is a great step by the Saudi government.”