Three major Saudi tourism projects are still on track despite the political fallout over the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi that has dominated global headlines over the past few weeks. The projects, the tourism-related NEOM, the Red Sea project and the establishing of a Six Flags theme park in the country, are all apparently unaffected.
This is despite the news that some western companies had stalled plans to have projects funded from the Saudi Public Investment Fund that is chaired by the country’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. British entrepreneur Richard Branson has publicly stated that he would suspend his directorship of two Saudi tourism projects near the Red Sea because of the Khashoggi situation.
The mega-business zone, NEOM, is unaffected, said its CEO, Nadhmi al-Nasr talking to news agency Reuters last week. Al-Nasr said that he had engaged in talks with a number of partners over the past few days and there remained an up-beat attitude towards the project.
Six Flags is still on track at Qiddiya near Riyadh, over an 8,400 sq.m. site that makes it 2.5 times larger than Disney World. The Red Sea project is due to begin building work early in 2019, planning to open phase one to the public in 2022. The project is to develop resorts on 50 islands off the Red Sea coast, to include a nature reserve, heritage sites and coral reef diving.
