This picture taken on August 8, 2019 shows a daylight view from a room in a luxury hotel overlooking the Kaaba (the Cube), Islam’s holiest shrine, and its encompassing Grand Mosque in Saudi Arabia’s holy city of Mecca ahead of the annual Hajj pilgrimage. – The Muslim hajj pilgrimage attracts a wealthy clientele that does not skimp on the means, making the holy city the «El Dorado» of luxury religious tourism. With sparkling marble, precious woods, and majestic chandeliers, all the standards of international luxury are respected in the upmarket hotels of the holiest Muslim city. Their main asset however is elsewhere: «we have three prayer rooms overlooking the Kaaba», boasts a manager in one of these institutions. (Photo by FETHI BELAID / AFP)