Saudi Arabia: Neom, a planned futuristic megacity in Saudi Arabia, announced on Sunday that its “first physical showcase” would open: a luxurious island in the Red Sea with restaurants, hotels, and berths for yachts.
As a result of persistent doubts regarding Neom’s viability and ahead of a major investor forum that is sometimes referred to as “Davos in the Desert,” which will begin on Tuesday in Riyadh, the island known as Sindalah was opened.
In a statement, chief executive Nadhmi al-Nasr said, “Neom is committed to supporting the Kingdom’s new era of luxury tourism, with the opening of Sindalah.”
“Visitors can get a “first look” at the future of our extensive portfolio of destinations and developments at Neom’s inaugural destination.” According to the statement, Sindalah will accommodate “up to 2,400 guests per day by 2028” and is “spread over 840,000 square meters.”
The twin mirror-encased, 170-kilometer-long skyscrapers known as The Line are Neom’s most well-known creation.
When he unveiled The Line in 2022, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman predicted that it would have a population of nine million by 2045, up from one million in 2030.
Bloomberg, on the other hand, reported earlier this year that, according to revised projections, only 300,000 people would live in The Line by the end of the decade, and only 2.4 kilometers of the project would have been finished by then.
Along with other major development projects launched as part of Prince Mohammed’s Vision 2030 effort to position the world’s largest crude exporter for a post-oil future, Neom is moving forward.
The Gulf kingdom won the only bid to host the football World Cup in 2034. This means that it now has a decade to build the stadiums and increase its lodging and transportation capacity.
