Travelers are running out of new places to discover, but there could be one\u00a0treasure hidden\u00a0in plain sight. <\/p>\n
Saudi Arabia\u2019s Red Sea coast stretches for more than a thousand miles, from the northern border with Jordan in the Gulf of Aqaba to Yemen in the far south. <\/p>\n
Much of that, outside of big cities like Jeddah, is undeveloped coastline of turquoise water, offshore islands, pristine beaches and coral reefs. <\/p>\n
Now, as part of Saudi\u2019s Vision 2030\u00a0plan\u00a0to diversify the economy, reduce its reliance on oil revenue and implement social reform, a number of ultra-luxury schemes, touted by government-funded developers as the pinnacle of eco-consciousness, are under way on the Red Sea shores. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is really exciting to see this is opening up to the world,\u201d says Firas Jundi, regional manager of the Middle East for PADI, the Professional Association of Diving Instructors. <\/p>\n
\u201cI grew up in Saudi and started diving there in 1989, and then the north was only accessible via four-wheel drives. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you get to the shore you see it is pristine, untouched, with clear visibility, like a huge swimming pool full of fish. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis has not been a diving destination so you can imagine how protected the coral is.\u201d <\/p>\n
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The shimmering mirrored building that vanishes into the desert<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The\u00a0Red Sea region encompasses 28,000 square kilometers of coastline and 90 offshore islands some 300 miles north of Jeddah, and AMAALA, further north in the Prince\u00a0Mohammed\u00a0bin Salman\u00a0Natural\u00a0Reserve, are part of Saudi\u2019s so-called giga projects. <\/p>\n
They will feature boutique resorts offering a wealth of water sports and other activities including\u00a0arts, culture and education based around the sea, the desert, the dunes and the mountains,\u00a0say developers. <\/p>\n
Both will be served by the\u00a0forthcoming Red Sea International Airport which is\u00a0scheduled to open\u00a0to\u00a0domestic flights\u00a0in 2023. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first came here and went out to the islands and saw about seven shades of blue, I thought, \u2018how many shades of blue can you get in the sea?\u2019\u201d says Rosanna Chopra, the executive director of destination development for Red Sea Global, the umbrella\u00a0development company for the projects, owned by Saudi\u2019s\u00a0government-controlled\u00a0Public Investment Fund (PIF). <\/p>\n
\u201cEven now I think, \u2018What on\u00a0Earth is this glorious place and why has it been such a secret for so long?\u2019 <\/p>\n
\u201cThe islands and the marine life and the dolphins, it\u2019s just like some sort of fantastical world. You become really overwhelmed by the responsibility of trying to preserve it because there is a reason why it\u2019s so stunning and so precious and so beautiful. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t rush this, we have to do it responsibly, we have to do it well.\u201d <\/p>\n
Jundi has dived up and down Saudi\u2019s Red Sea coast and believes the potential for tourism is vast. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen life stopped during Covid the coral [elsewhere] had a break and now I\u2019ve started diving again I see a lot more marine life, bigger marine animals,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat gives you an idea of what it could look like in a place that hasn\u2019t been opened for any kind of activity. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s exciting is they don\u2019t want to rush. They don\u2019t want to be another busy destination like Egypt. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just diving, there are so many other nice things in Saudi Arabia that are full of historical sites and deserts. I feel diving is just one tip of the iceberg that Saudi is trying to promote.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Diriyah: The latest \u2018giga project\u2019 aiming to transform Saudi Arabia<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n The\u00a0Red Sea project, between the cities of Umluj and Al-Wajh, will develop 22 of the 90\u00a0islands, and will be powered by 100% renewable energy, says the developer.\u00a0\u00a0By 2030\u00a0it is expected to comprise\u00a050 hotels, 8,000 rooms and up to 1,000 residential properties. <\/p>\n
\u201cRegenerative\u201d tourism is the buzzword with the projects aimed at travelling responsibly, preserving and enhancing the local community and environment, and offering transformative experiences for visitors, according to Chopra. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think luxury travel is being redefined,\u201d says Chopra. <\/p>\n
The sandy slivers of the Ummahat Islands will welcome the first of The Red Sea developments, opening in late 2023. The\u00a0St. Regis Red Sea Resort\u00a0will be a water sports hub\u00a0designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma\u00a0with accommodation in villas on land and over water. <\/p>\n
Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve\u00a0on Ummahat, will\u00a0have a dive center. <\/p>\n
Shura Island\u00a0will\u00a0be\u00a0a 30-minute drive from the airport connected by a 1.2-kilometer bridge, and will act as a hub island, featuring 11 low-rise resorts, designed to look like coral washed up on the beach. <\/p>\n
There will be a golf course, a marina, shopping and dining. <\/p>\n
Two inland resorts, Desert Rock and Southern. Dunes, will make the most of the coast\u2019s natural landscape. <\/p>\n
Sheybarah,\u00a045\u00a0minutes by boat from the mainland, is being touted by developers as a hyper-luxury, self-sustaining resort featuring a string of over-water pods which architecture firm Killa Design says mirror the bubbles of a diver. <\/p>\n
\u201cI challenge anyone not to look at that water and ask the question, \u2018how can I go into it, under it, over it?\u2019 \u2013 they\u2019re going to want to be a part of it,\u201d says Chopra. <\/p>\n
The development at AMAALA will begin with\u00a0Triple Bay,\u00a0a wellness\u00a0\u201chub\u201d and a center for watersports and other activities. <\/p>\n
A marina will cater\u00a0 to\u00a0the international yachting set and a\u00a0Marine Life Institute\u00a0will be both a scientific research center and a tourist destination with 10 zones ranging from augmented reality experiences to underwater walkways, submersibles and night diving. <\/p>\n
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The high-speed train that zooms across the Saudi desert<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Triple Bay is\u00a0expected to\u00a0open in 2024 with a further offshore island and coastal development to come. When complete, AMAALA will offer more than 3,000 hotel rooms across 25 hotels and about 900 villas and apartments, all powered by what developers say is 100% renewable energy and operating with a zero-carbon footprint. <\/p>\n
For both The Red Sea and AMAALA, seaplanes, boats and electric vehicles will transfer guests from the new airport to their resort, with luggage checked through to their destination. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur job is to open it up intelligently,\u201d says Chopra. \u201cIt\u2019s not just learning how to sail or kite surf or foil, but respect for the sea. Mother Nature is bigger than all of us and the more you respect her, the more you enjoy the playground that is the water. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe want you to leave us having felt you\u2019ve not only contributed to the regeneration of our coral reefs and planet but regenerated as a human and that\u2019s a very difficult thing to manufacture or retrofit into another destination. Being able to explore this area under natural power is going to be a really overwhelming experience for people.\u201d <\/p>\n
Developers have put a cap of one million visitors a year at The Red Sea\u00a0and 500,000 at Amaala,\u00a0but the question is whether that cap will even be necessary. Given Saudi\u2019s human rights record, will tourists even come? <\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely, I do believe tourists will come,\u201d says Jundi, who was born in Syria, but is based in the UAE. <\/p>\n
\u201cI travel to Saudi three times a year and you\u2019ll start to feel the diversity that is happening with this new vision.\u201d <\/p>\n
Chopra added: \u201cLike many countries that have had periods of time that have been troubling and confusing to other countries, we must all live in a world where people can evolve, and I can\u2019t champion enough the youth of the kingdom. <\/p>\n
\u201cPeople will be astonished when they come. The hospitality of the Saudis will knock them sideways.\u201d <\/p>\n\n
This post appeared first on cnn.com<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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