Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday, October 27, the opening of Sindalah, a luxury resort on the Red Sea, the first project of the futuristic Neom megacity to see the light of day, despite persistent doubts about the viability of the megaproject.
“Neom is committed to supporting a new era of luxury tourism in the kingdom,” its director, Nadhmi al-Nasr, announced in a press release.
“Neom’s first destination offers visitors a ‘first look’ at what the future holds for our extensive portfolio of destinations and development,” he added.
The island of Sindalah, intended to attract high-level tourism, including a marina planned to accommodate a flotilla of yachts, has an area of 840,000 square meters and will be able to welcome up to 2,400 visitors a day until 2028, the statement states.
Neom as part of the “Vision 2030” program
The Neom megaproject, led by Saudi Arabia’s crown prince and de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman, is best known for its centerpiece, The Line, a building with two mirrored facades that is planned to extend 170 kilometers across the desert from the Gulf of Aqaba.
Upon inaugurating The Line in 2022, Prince bin Salman announced that it would be home to more than one million inhabitants by 2030 and nine million by 2045.
But the promoters have revised their ambitions: 300,000 inhabitants and 2.4 kilometers of project built before the end of the decade, according to the Bloomberg agency.
The project is being carried out in parallel with other major investments under “Vision 2030”, which aims to ensure the development of the world’s leading oil exporting country into a potentially oil-free future.
Saudi Arabia is also the only candidate to host the 2034 Soccer World Cup, the award of which will be announced by FIFA in December.
Source: BFM TV
