Saudi Arabia’s futuristic mega-city, NEOM, announced the opening of its first “physical showcase” on Sunday: a luxury Red Sea Island with restaurants and hotels.
The opening of the Sindalah island comes amid persistent questions about NEOM’s viability. It also comes ahead of a major investment forum known as “Davos in the Desert”, to be held in Riyadh starting on Tuesday.
Chief Executive Nadhmi Al-Nasr stated in a press release:
“NEOM is dedicated to supporting the Kingdom’s New Era of Luxury Tourism, with the Opening of Sindalah”
“NEOM’s first destination offers visitors a first glimpse” of what the future will hold for our extensive portfolio and developments.”
Sindalah “spreads over 840,000 square meters” (200 acres), and will be able to receive “upto 2400 guests per day by 2020”, the statement stated.
The new tourist destination will be a collection of facilities including a ski resort, ultra-luxury wellness and family resorts, retail stores, restaurants, etc. The project is expected to be completed by the year 2026.
NEOM’s most famous project is The Line, a pair of 170-kilometer-long skyscrapers with mirror-encased facades. The Line was designed to extend inland away from the coast. When Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled The Line in 2022 he said that its population would reach nine million people by 2045.
However, Bloomberg reported earlier in the year that revised projections showed only 300,000 residents would live in The Line at the end of this decade, and just 2.4 kilometers of the project will be completed. NEOM’s development is taking place alongside other major developments projects launched under Vision 2030, Prince Mohammed’s attempt to position the world’s largest crude oil exporter for a post-oil future.
The Gulf Kingdom was the only bidder in the World Cup 2034, which means that it has 10 years to build stadiums, improve its transport and accommodation capacity and increase its lodging capacity. Mohammed al-Jadaan, the Finance Minister of the Gulf Kingdom, announced in December that officials had decided to extend the deadline for some major projects beyond 2030. He did not specify which ones.
