Saudi Arabia has revealed Sindalah Island, the inaugural luxury tourism destination in its ambitious NEOM development project, aiming to transform the Red Sea into a center for premium travel experiences. Unveiled on Sunday, Sindalah offers high-end amenities including world-class restaurants, exclusive hotels, and yachting facilities, establishing itself as the “first physical showcase” of the futuristic mega-city NEOM. This launch comes just before a significant investor gathering in Riyadh, often compared to “Davos in the Desert,” set to begin on Tuesday.
With Sindalah’s opening, NEOM is paving the way for a new era of luxury tourism, according to NEOM’s CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr, who stated that the island offers an early glimpse into the potential of NEOM’s expansive portfolio of future destinations. Spanning 840,000 square meters (roughly 200 acres), Sindalah aims to accommodate up to 2,400 guests daily by 2028.
NEOM has gained attention primarily for The Line, an ambitious project featuring dual mirrored skyscrapers stretching 170 kilometers inland from the Red Sea coast. Initially envisioned to house over a million residents by 2030, recent projections by Bloomberg suggest that the project may see around 300,000 residents by the end of the decade, with just 2.4 kilometers of construction completed by then.
Amidst skepticism, development on NEOM and other high-profile projects under the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 continues. Saudi Arabia, positioning itself as a post-oil economy, was the only contender to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, which will require extensive infrastructure development in terms of stadiums, lodging, and transport. Last December, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan indicated some of these major projects would see extended timelines beyond 2030.
