Saudi oil rig adventure park to house 800 hotel rooms

SPA

Saudi Arabia has unveiled the masterplan for the world’s first adventure tourism destination on an offshore platform, 40 kilometres off the Arabian Gulf coastline.

The Rig will cover a gross floor area of more than 300,000 sq m, double the size announced in October 2021, near Al Juraid Island and Berri oil field.

Oil Park Development Company (OPDC), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund (PIF), the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, will develop The Rig.

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The tourism project will house three hotels with 800 keys, 11 restaurants, an extreme sports and adventure park, a marina and helipads.

It will offer a variety of water activities, including a diving center, an amusement park, splash park, an E-sports centre, an immersive theater and multi-purpose arena. 

“The Rig is inspired by the design of offshore oil platforms and will celebrate the legacy of Saudi Arabia’s rich oil and gas heritage,” CEO Raed Bakhrji said in a statement.

The project is expected to attract over 900,000 annual visitors by 2032, he added.

The value of the project was not given. 

Saudi Arabia has been described as the “biggest” construction site the world has ever seen, with $1.1 trillion of building projects currently in progress across the kingdom.

Earlier this month, he World Bank said that growth in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies is forecast to increase in 2024 and 2025, propelled by a rebound in Saudi Arabia’s economy.

Riyadh is anticipated to witness an economic expansion of 4.1 percent in 2024 and 4.2 percent in 2025, rebounding from a 0.5 percent contraction in 2023.

“The goal of Saudi Vision 2030 is to raise the tourism industry’s economic share of GDP from 3 percent to 10 percent. Investing in Aseer is a significant step in the right direction,” Vijay Valecha, chief investment officer at Century Financial, told AGBI last month.