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Saudi giga-project Red Sea to open first hotels this year

By Andy Sambidge
Southern Dunes Six Senses at Red Sea resort Red Sea Global
Six Senses Southern Dunes will be the first hotel at The Red Sea to open
  • Red Sea Global has announced the opening of its first three hotels
  • Project was first announced by the Crown Prince six years ago
  • On completion in 2030 it will offer 8,000 rooms across 50 resorts

The first three hotels at Saudi Arabia’s multi-billion dollar Red Sea destination are on track to open later this year, its developer announced on Wednesday.

Red Sea Global (RSG), the company behind tourism destinations Amaala and The Red Sea, also said the first domestic flights are set to take off from its international airport before the end of 2023.

A construction progress report – issued six years after the project was first announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman – said work is also ongoing at a further 13 hotels and on supporting infrastructure.

John Pagano, group CEO at RSG, said the company had made “made exceptional progress” in six years and that its sustainable infrastructure was “in line with our regenerative approach and commitment to responsible development”.

Work is ongoing on all 11 resorts and infrastructure across Shura Island. More than 100 construction contracts are in place, and a similar number are out in for tender. 

The developer is moving onto beach formation and beautification works that include the creation of new mangrove habitats in the coming months.

On Sheybarah Island, RSG has now installed all 38 stainless steel overwater villas. The first beach villas have also arrived, one of which has successfully been installed. 

Pagano added that RSG is “busy working on the rest of phase one” as well as the airport and first hotels, as it moves to put “Saudi Arabia proudly on the world stage as a must-visit destination.”

Red Sea Ritz-Carlton NujumaRed Sea Global
The Ritz-Carlton Nujuma was designed by Foster & Partners and will feature a diving centre

A distribution centre and transportation hub are being completed to provide operational logistic facilities ahead of the opening of the first hotels. More than 150 trucks of materials and 2,000 people are transported to the various offshore projects each day.

RSG last week announced it has installed more than 760,000 photovoltaic panels, needed to power phase one of the project. 

One of its five solar farms is located near Six Senses Southern Dunes at The Red Sea resort, which will be the first hotel to open.

More than 25,000 personnel are working at the destination. When it is completed in 2030, it will comprise 50 resorts, offering up to 8,000 hotel rooms and more than 1,000 residential properties across 22 islands and six inland sites. 

The destination will also include luxury marinas, golf courses, entertainment, food and drink offerings, and leisure facilities.

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