SAUDI UNVEILS MEGA RED SEA TOURISM PLAN
riyadh — Saudi Arabia on Tuesday launched a massive tourism project to build a “semi-autonomous” visa-free travel destination along its northwestern Red Sea coast where restrictions on women’s dress, gender segregation and other conservative norms could be waived.
The project, which will turn 50 islands and a string of sites into luxury resorts, will include diving attractions and a nature reserve, with some areas resembling the luxury hotels, islands and lagoons of the Maldives. The Arab News reported that foundation for the project will be laid in the third quarter of 2019 and the first phase will be completed in the last quarter of 2022.
The country’s Public Investment Fund said it will provide the seed capital to develop the resort area, explaining that the new “semi-autonomous area will be governed by laws on par with international standards”.
The project aims to generate 15 billion Saudi riyals ($4 billion) annually to Saudi Arabia’s economy and create 35,000 jobs. The fund said the project will attract leading names in hotel to “bring about the next-generation of tourism in a way that will open” Saudi’s Red Sea coastline to tourists from around the world. —
dubai — Saudi Arabia has announced plans to build a “semiautonomous” visa-free travel destination along its northwestern Red Sea coast.
The Red Sea area will include diving attractions and a nature reserve — and there are suggestions that the kingdom’s may ease certain rules in the tourist haven.
The resort area will be developed with seed capital from the country’s Public Investment Fund.
The Saudi Commission for Tourism did not immediately respond to an Associated Press request for more details on the rules.
The project will cover 50 islands and 34,000 square kilometres — an area bigger than Belgium — between the cities of Umluj and Al Wajh to attract “luxury travellers from around the globe,” according to an official statement sent to Bloomberg on Tuesday.
Tourists will either not require a visa or will be able to obtain one online. One of the documents referred to the project as a “semiautonomous” area governed “by independent laws and a regulatory framework developed and managed by a private committee,” a sign that it could ease some rules applied elsewhere in Saudi Arabia.
The project will create as many as 35,000 jobs “once it’s up and running” and contribute SR15 billion ($4 billion) to Saudi Arabia’s gross domestic product, according to the statement.
The Public Investment Fund, will inject initial investments into the project and start partnerships with international companies.
The initial groundbreaking is expected in the third quarter of 2019. The first phase will be completed by the fourth quarter of 2022, including “the development of hotels and luxury residential units, as well as all logistical infrastructure — including air, land, and sea transport hubs,” according to the statement.
Visitors will have access to the ancient ruins at Mada’in Saleh, a relic of the same ancient civilisation that built the better-known city of Petra in Jordan and a Unesco world heritage site. A promotional video for the project showcases white sand beaches and flocks of birds soaring over turquoise waves.