RIYADH: Saudi Arabia’s planned futuristic megacity known as NEOM on Sunday announced the opening of its “first physical offering”: a luxury island in the Red Sea featuring restaurants, hotels and yacht piers.
The opening of the island, known as Sandalah, comes ahead of a major investor forum sometimes referred to as “Davos in the Desert” which begins in Riyadh on Tuesday.
Nazmi Al-Nasr, CEO of NEOM, said in a statement: “NEOM is committed to supporting the new era of luxury tourism in the Kingdom, with the opening of Sandalah.”
“NEOM’s inaugural destination provides visitors with a ‘first glimpse’ of what the future holds for our wide range of destinations and developments.”
The statement said that Sandala “extends over an area of 840,000 square meters” (200 acres) and is scheduled to receive “up to 2,400 guests daily by 2028.”
Neom is known for The Line, a 170-kilometre-long mirror-covered skyscraper intended to extend inland from the coast.
Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who unveiled the line in 2022, said its population would exceed one million by 2030 before rising to nine million by 2045.
but, Bloomberg It was reported earlier this year that under revised projections, only 300,000 people would live on The Line by the end of the decade, and only 2.4km of the project would be completed by then.
Work on NEOM is progressing alongside other major development projects launched as part of Vision 2030, Prince Mohammed’s attempt to position the world’s largest exporter of crude oil for an eventual post-oil future.
Last year, the Gulf kingdom emerged as the sole bidder to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, meaning it now has a decade to build the necessary stadiums and boost its accommodation and transport capacity.
In December, Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan said that officials had decided to postpone the time frame for some major projects until after 2030, without specifying which ones.