Neom brands its 12 Red Sea resorts as ‘Magna’

Neom/Unsplash

• Magna will span 120km
• Includes 15 luxury hotels
• Anticipated 15,000 employees

Saudi Arabian giga-project Neom said this week that 12 Red Sea coastal resorts for the ultra-rich that it has rolled out over the past year would be branded collectively under the name Magna. 

Last month Neom announced its twelfth project, Jaumur, the latest in a series of separate announcements of futuristic resorts inside Neom, an area of land in north west Saudi Arabia bordering Jordan. 

“The twelve destinations will span 120km and are poised to set a new global standard in luxury sustainable tourism,” a statement said, alongside a new website showing the 12 sites. 

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Neom did not say if any further resorts would be added, but Neom has now used up all the names it had patented with US authorities up to November last year. 

It said that as a whole the locations will include 15 luxury hotels with 1,600 hotel rooms, suites and apartments and more than 2,500 villas and apartments for 14,500 residents. 

The developments will employ around 15,000 people and are planned to receive at least 300,000 guests per year. 

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The region, opposite the south of Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, will be served by five helipads and a private airstrip. 

Neom is the lead giga-project of a series of massive tourism, entertainment and residential projects owned by the Public Investment Fund and valued at around $1.25 trillion. 

The government sees them as central to creating a new economy that helps to end the country’s historical reliance on oil and gas revenues. Tourism is hoped to account for 10 percent of GDP by 2030. 

But the giga-projects have run into trouble as foreign investment lags behind expectations and faltering oil prices cause budget deficits. Neom’s 170km-long city The Line has been pared back to less than 5km. 

Neom also includes an industrial city called Oxagon, a tourist island called Sindalah, which is due to open this year, and the Trojena winter resort that is to open in 2027 and host the Asian Winter Games in 2029.