Despite the pandemic, the tourism business is preparing for a V-shaped recovery, and Saudi Arabia is aiming to take advantage of it by building a huge new resort on the Red Sea!
Saudi Arabia’s flagship tourism project – The Red Sea Development Co (TRSDC) – plans to build 16 hotels by the end of 2023 at a new resort on the Red Sea, two more than the previously announced.
The multimillion-dollar project, owned by the Sovereign Wealth Fund of Saudi Arabia and backed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, involves the construction of a luxury resort on 50 islands on the coral coast of the Red Sea. There, tourists will be able to go diving, visit the nature reserve and heritage sites.
It is expected that at the first stage the resort will serve 300 thousand tourists a year.
As soon as the restrictions are lifted, there will be a large delayed demand for travel and travel, – said CEO John Pagano
TRSDC plans to obtain a 15-year loan from banks worth 14 billion riyals (3.16 billion Euro) by the end of the year to partially finance its capital expenditures of 30 billion riyal (6.76 billion Euros) by 2023 with the remaining coming directly from the State Investment Fund.
Saudi Arabia wants tourism to provide 10% of its gross domestic product by 2030 as part of a strategy to diversify its economy.
However, it is unlikely that the new project will be a significant competition for other countries in the area. John Pagano cleared that the project it’s not aimed at serving the “mass market”.
Even with full construction by 2030, we will have no more than 800,000 – 1 million visitors a year
At #TheRedSea in #SaudiArabia we're developing a luxury tourism destination underpinned by regeneration. We're #BreakingNewGround every day & looking forward to welcoming our first guests by end of 2022. Watch the full video here: https://t.co/ZoN00Ztf3b pic.twitter.com/9EMYY4Bmmd
— The Red Sea Development Company (@TheRedSeaGlobal) November 11, 2020
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