This is the most exciting time to be in, and come from, Saudi Arabia. There is such potential.
forward and give the next generation what they want. I think a lot of the extreme right wing religious people will step down or be moved aside gradually,” he added.
He thinks the next step should be a loosening of the Kingdom’s guardianship laws that restrict women’s ability to travel and conduct business affairs freely.
“The next challenge is to change the rules that make women have to ask permission from men to be able to travel and move around freely. It’s about equality. Why should women have to ask men for permission to travel? Men should ask permission too. I know that I have to ask my wife permission when I travel, I cannot just head off and leave everything with her. It’s just normality.”
He tells how his wife Joan makes him sign a document each time he goes off on another daredevil adventure — solo ballooning, or round-theworld sailing — giving her possession of their Caribbean Island, Necker, in the event that he might not return.
The conversation turns to resorts, on which he regards himself as something of an authority.
“The projects here — Neom, the Red Sea, and the entertainment parks — are all very exciting. I was asked if I’d be a director on the Red Sea Resort, which is an amazing place. I visited some of the islands and it was breathtakingly beautiful, islands and coastline.”
Apart from Necker, he also has a home in the Maldives and has developed resorts on other island destinations. There are 50 islands in the Red Sea project, and he will advise on how to develop them in a tasteful way, in keeping with the Kingdom’s cultures and traditions.
“I have some experience with islands, so the plan is to develop the resort as a destination for high quality tourism, but to leave it still beautiful when it’s developed — the aim is to keep it virgin, untouched and pristine, but to be able to offer facilities that will allow people to enjoy it,” he said.
There is an ongoing discussion in the Kingdom about what kind of regime will run the resort, with some suggestions of semi-autonomous status and a more relaxed approach to traditional standards of dress and entertainment.
“That’s still being worked on, but I’d like to think it will be more like Dubai, not in all respects of course but in some ways. Maybe bikinis will be allowed, or maybe it will be developed as a detox area. “Let’s wait and see,” he teased. It is still early days in the project, and Virgin’s input so far — apart from the valuable endorsement of the Branson brand — is advisory. But it could go further.
“The idea is to develop them as four star to ultra luxury destinations, so no cheap beach-type holiday packages. But we’re looking at putting Virgin tourism, telecommunications, online banking and retailing.
But his latest all-consuming preoccupation is with space travel. The $1 billion deal with PIF will ensure Saudi funding for the project to create the world’s first “spaceline” that will enable passengers to fly into space on a commercial basis. It is an ambitious project and has suffered setbacks along the Internet connectivity across the region.
“It will help connect thousands of people in even the remotest parts of Saudi Arabia,” he said.
There is also a hint that Virgin will get involved in plans by some Gulf counties to develop “hyperloop” transportation systems which can cut train traveling times to a fraction of their current duration. “I think hyperloop is the future,” he said, promising more details soon.
There is no doubt that he sees the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia in particular, as a prime destination for future Virgin projects. “We are happy and keen to invest in the new Saudi Arabia. I’ve got to know (the crown prince) quite well in the past few months and I want to help him in a more positive way,” he said.
Does he think the crown prince is pushing ahead too fast with the transformation of Saudi society, culture and economy?
“Well, as a general rule it’s better to walk before you can run, but I never really went along with that. If you want to succeed you should have an idea and a plan to implement it, and just do it. He is doing that, and his heart is in the right place,” he said, before heading off to address a packed audience of men and women at the final day of the Riyadh conference.
As usual, Richard Branson gets the last word.