As my helicopter hovered above the seemingly infinite blue sea and the overwater villas at the St. Regis Red Sea Resort, the comparison to the Maldives was inescapable.
But this was no Indian Ocean idyll. Instead, this 90-villa resort is part of Saudi Arabia’s project that will turn 11,000 square miles of its western coast into what it hopes will become a top destination for luxury tourism. Backed by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, it’s just one of several futuristic tourism ventures being developed in the kingdom.
Courtesy of Six Senses Southern Dunes
The St. Regis is helping lead the way, along with two other exclusive hotels: Six Senses Southern Dunes and Nujuma, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve. These three are just the beginning, according to Red Sea Global (RSG), which is developing the area. By 2030, more than 50 hotels — including outposts of Edition, Miraval, and Raffles — are expected to open, with a total of more than 8,000 rooms.
Courtesy of Six Senses Southern Dunes
The destination will also feature entertainment venues, spas, shopping, a marina, and more. Despite the size and ambition of the project, officials say that visitor arrivals will be capped at 1 million a year. One aim is to maintain a premium guest experience; another is to help protect — and even regenerate — the fragile Red Sea ecosystem. To that end, the developers insist that the project will be run on renewable energy and operated sustainably.
Early green initiatives include the installation of solar panels — enough to cover an area equal to 1,900 soccer fields — to power the set of 16 hotels and attractions that are welcoming visitors now or will be by the end of next year. Infrastructure such as desalination plants, cooling systems, and water-treatment units will also run on solar power. Seaplanes and helicopters, like the one I traveled on, use sustainable aviation fuel, while trucks that service the hotels run on biofuel made from used cooking oil sourced from within Saudi Arabia.
Courtesy of St. Regis
Then there’s the new Red Sea International Airport, the gateway to the region, a two-hour flight from Riyadh. When its main terminal debuts in 2025, the airport will showcase cutting-edge technology that includes a luggage-delivery system that will move bags from aircraft to hotel without travelers’ intervention. Guests, meanwhile, can catch a ride in one of the many Lucid electric vehicles that will provide transfers.
Massive real estate projects are certainly not rare in the Middle East, and I harbored a few concerns about the environmental impacts of Saudi Arabia’s ambitious plans. “We understand the skepticism,” says Sultan Moraished, an RSG executive. “Before a shovel hit the ground, we sent in scientists to catalogue and assess the stunning biodiversity.”
Just 1 percent of the total area under RSG’s purview will be developed. Instead, plans call for particular care to be given to enhancing the region’s biologically diverse habitats. That work includes setting up a lab to grow coral for the creation of new reefs and, by 2030, planting more than 50 million mangroves, plus 30 million saplings and shrubs, to improve green cover and reduce erosion.
However, from my perch at the St. Regis, I wondered how many visitors would notice these sustainability measures. Time will tell.
For now, the reefs are stunning. On the last morning of my visit, I went snorkeling near the resort. Red Sea clown fish, lionfish, sea goldies, and other creatures I couldn’t name darted around beautiful formations of coral in a multitude of colors and shapes. The scene reminded me of something Moraished had said: “We don’t claim to have all the answers, but we are steadfast in our commitment.”
A version of this story first appeared in the October 2024 issue of Travel + Leisure under the headline “The Next Frontier.”
