Kilometers of sandy beaches, untouched nature and crystal clear water – that’s what it advertises Neom settlement project for Sindalaha new luxury destination on the Red Sea. The island is just 17 hours by sea from major Mediterranean destinations, making it the perfect holiday destination for millionaire yacht owners. Sindalah is one of four megacities von Neom, the core of the Project Vision 2030 of the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salmanalso CEO of Neom Company.
Sindalah is one of four megacities in Neom, the centerpiece of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 project. Saudi Arabia is currently building thirteen different mega-projects: the planned city The Line, a 170 kilometer and only 200 meter wide, completely green line city, a ski resort, an underwater high-rise and various unusual hotels.
Looking for investors
The eighth edition of the Future Investment Initiative kicked off on Tuesday in the Saudi capital Riyadh, which is Saudi Arabia’s largest Sovereign wealth fund invites leading personalities, entrepreneurs and investors every year. Neom briefly threaded one of them exclusive visit for selected ones Financiersentertainers and influential personalities – probably the crème de la crème of Wall Street and Silicon Valley got access to Sindalah.
The private invitation to the new luxury travel destination is an attempt to create new ones investors to land in order to turn further costly visions into reality. In the meantime, Neom has encountered financial challenges with the crown prince’s utopian ideas.
$1.5 billion
Because Neom is now open financial challenges encountered by the crown prince’s utopian ideas. Not only the lack of investors, but also the private and state-borne costs are causing problems. The total cost of Neom is up to $1.5 billion (around 1.4 billion euros), an amount of 500 million dollars (463 million euros) was officially announced.
The Saudi government has only released 80 percent of the planned budget. And although the Saudi kingdom has excellent financial security, it also has budgetary limits. Some foreign investors are also slower to provide financial support; In addition, there are numerous human rights violations that the country is accused of in connection with the construction, and the displacement of the local population and massive environmental pollution are also criticized by NGOs.
Up to 2,400 guests per day
“Less is more” may not have come to Prince Bin Salman’s ears – at least he is living his dream of glitter and glamor through Neom, especially with that Sindalah Island, from. The facility extends across the northwest of Saudi Arabia 840,000 square meters and thus offers plenty of space in the future 2,400 guests per day to accommodate.
Of course, guests can expect the best of the best and can choose to spend their luxury vacation either in one of the 440 rooms or one of the 88 villas. Of course, there is also the option of booking one of the 218 luxurious serviced apartments.
Of course, there is also plenty of fun on vacation: beach clubs, evening events and not forgetting the circa 6 Kilometer lange Beachfront Golf Club offer a rich program to combat boredom. The small town with its lively promenades offers 36 luxury stores the perfect shopping experience for every spending holidaymaker.
Access to the West
With the “soft opening” of the first megacity, there is a new opportunity for the West to enter Saudi culture. It remains questionable whether other regulations and exceptions will apply to tourists. Issues such as alcohol consumption and women’s clothing style are handled differently there. At least the crown prince should deal with this if he wants to welcome enough tourists to his megacities.
Nadhmi Al-Nasr, Chief Executive Officer, NEOM, said: “NEOM is committed to supporting the new era of luxury tourism in the Kingdom with the opening of Sindalah. The realization of this landmark destination, the gateway to the Red Sea, is thanks to the visionary leadership of His Royal Highness Mohammed bin Salman and the Saudi Vision 2030.”
Climate-friendly and sustainable
Prince Bin Salman wants to use his project to stimulate the economy and no longer depend solely on the oil business. Above all, technical innovations, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI)should be raised large and play a main point in the implementation of the project. Besides, everything should climate-friendly and CO2-neutral be designed to have a sustainable lifestyle to promote. The question remains to what extent this is feasible when the production alone requires huge amounts of concrete in megacities, and that is anything but climate neutral.
But the Saudi prince is also trying to reinvent his country politically. At least that’s how it seems after him Mid-October at the EU summit and sought better relations with the West. Both sides initially agreed on one strengthened partnershipt, for example in trade matters, the climate crisis and also security issues.
Three more megacities are being planned
The island countersigned by luxury is just one of the four megacities, together they form the new Neom settlement project. In Triple A world-class winter resort complex is currently being built, which will also host the 2029 Asian Winter Games. An artificial freshwater lake, chalets, villas and luxury hotels with extensive ski slopes are intended to make the hearts of all winter sports enthusiasts beat faster.
With Oxagon The world’s largest floating structure is to be built and will jut out into the Red Sea south of the Suez Canal. The new port city will become a center for “advanced and clean technologies” and will only use 100 percent clean energy. A very ambitious vision for 2030.
The Line With its unique construction and immense size, it is probably the most famous and spectacular region of Neom. With a length of 170 kilometers, a height of 500 meters and a width of only 200 meters, it is said to provide a living space for 9 million people. After the initial euphoria, the plan is now to backtrack and only 2.5 kilometers of the city will be built by 2030 and the population will be reduced to 300,000.