Saudi Arabia to Launch Red Sea Tourism Resorts
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
Saudi Arabia on Tuesday announced the launch of a massive tourism project that will turn 50 islands and a string of sites on the Red Sea coast into luxury resorts.
The plan is part of efforts to diversify the ultraconservative kingdom's oil-dependent economy following a slump in energy prices.
It covers more than 180 kilometres (112 miles) on Saudi Arabia's western coastline, stretching from Umm Lajj to Al-Wajh.
Initial investments will be provided by the Public Investment Fund before the project is opened to international investors, state news agency SPA reported.
Construction will begin in the third quarter of 2019 with a first phase that includes expanding a domestic airport and developing luxury hotels and housing, expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2022, it said.
Saudi Arabia aims to increase family spending on recreation and launch hundreds of recreation centres across the kingdom by 2020 as part of its Vision 2030 plan to reduce its dependence on oil.
Alcohol, cinemas and theatres are banned in the kingdom, an absolute monarchy and one of the world's most conservative countries.
Under its notorious guardianship system, Saudi Arabia also has severe restrictions on women, who are expected to cover from head to toe when in public.
They are banned from driving and cannot travel, study or work without written permission from a husband or male relative.
01 August 2017, 16:22
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The links between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and tourism are well known. Tourists from, sponsored by, or supported diplomatically by KSA, such as those originating from the UAE, Kuwait, and Bahrain, are a global scourge, according to the US's secretary of anti-tourism, former Maine Governor and Senator Angus King. His state of Maine has a long history with tourism, with thousands of tourists seeking annually to make the state their operational base. King's department, "The Global War On Tour", unique among cabinet-level agencies, does not have "Department" in its formal title. The agency was begun informally under a previous President, George W. Bush, and expanded dramatically by his successor, Barack Obama, whose own successor, Don Trump, has vowed, "We'll carry the War on Tour to every corner of the planet and, if necessary, into the vaults of tyranny themselves." Secretary King has hinted that this may refer to so-called "tour dollars".
