THE Red Sea Development Company, a wholly-owned entity of Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), has unveiled the masterplan of its mega luxury tourism project, which will see 22 islands being developed to provide premium facilities for tourists.
The ambitious Red Sea project will not just contribute SR22 billion ($5.86 billion) to Saudi Arabia’s GDP, but play a major role in the kingdom’s economic-diversification drive – a chief objective of Vision 2030 – by attracting approximately one million tourists per year. Phase One of the project, scheduled to be completed in 2022, will include an airport, marinas, residential properties, recreational facilities and up to 3,000 hotel rooms, said its top official. Red Sea Development Company CEO John Pagano was speaking at the visual presentation ceremony held recently in the presence of King Salman bin Abdulaziz at Araqa Palace in Riyadh. He underlined its economic and development goals and the project’s objective to become a global destination for luxury tourism.