neoma This is the name of the giant project built on an area half the size of Switzerland, in the northwest of Saudi Arabia. 500 billion dollars will be invested. 200 billion of this is just for “The Line” – a sustainable city built between two mirrored walls 170 kilometers long and 200 meters wide and 500 meters high in the middle of the desert.
This will be completed by 2030. Neom should be completed by then. The project also includes the under construction town of Neom Bay, which includes luxury resorts. Or Trojena, Saudi Arabia’s first ski resort. Or a bridge over the Gulf of Aqaba that will connect Saudi Arabia to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. This makes it possible to reach the resort town of Sharm-el-Sheikh, which is located there and is popular with the Swiss, more quickly. However, it also receives serious competition from Saudi Arabia.
A large number of tourist facilities are being built on the Saudi side of the Red Sea. Initial openings were scheduled for 2025 but now it has been announced that work will begin even in the spring of 2024.
A luxury island in the Red Sea
The first public holiday destination in the Neom project will be the island of Sindalah. This is the first of a total of ten holiday destinations in Neom. Located on the Red Sea between Saudi Arabia and Egypt, the hotel will host three luxury resorts. Plus an 18-hole golf course, 50 boutiques, 40 restaurants, spas, diving schools, cultural institutions, a yacht club – everything the heart of wealthy guests desires.
By the way, going there is no problem. Neom Airport is also under construction.
High targets set
Sustainability is the top priority throughout the project. As part of its program to restore at least 1.5 million hectares of land, Neom announced an initiative that aims to plant approximately 100 million native trees, shrubs and grasses by 2030. Responsibles promise that resorts like Sindalah will use the most modern and sustainable technologies. Coral reefs in front of resorts must be protected.
Saudi Arabia plans to attract thousands of vacationers soon. In Sindalah alone, around 2,400 guests are expected to arrive and depart daily from 2028. So far, relatively few tourists have visited the existing sights. But tourism expansion is being pursued aggressively, and money is the least of the problems with big investment.
However, the ambitious project also raises questions and concerns in some quarters about the true intentions behind the construction. On the one hand, the local population is forcibly resettled for the construction of Neom, and on the other, the idea of spending a vacation in the politically and socially restrictive country seems frightening to some. Maldives can also be said to be an extremely conservative and restrictive country, but it welcomes thousands of Swiss holidaymakers every year.