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Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Global (RSG) released on Wednesday an update on the construction progress across the first phase of The Red Sea tourism destination.
The giga-project was announced by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman as part of the Kingdom’s 2030 Vision six years ago this month.
The Red Sea’s first three hotels and phase one of its international airport are on track to open later this year, the company said in a press statement.
Here are the construction updates:
Desert Rock resort
Desert Rock, a mountain resort built into the rockface, is more than 50 percent complete. Ten rooms have been fully excavated and integrated into the mountainside, as well as all 195 meters of tunnelling.
Major structural and infrastructure works are in an advanced stage, including constructing the wadi villas, guest hubs, back of house, and other structures.
Shura Island
Work is ongoing on all 11 resorts and infrastructure across the island. Over 100 construction contracts have been awarded, with a similar number issued in the tender market.
The developer is maximising off-site manufacturing with precast structures progressing rapidly, bathroom pod deliveries underway, and the prefabricated timber structure on the Golf Clubhouse nearing completion.
Working is moving to create beach formation and beautification works, including the creation of new mangrove habitats in the coming months.
Sheybarah Island
RSG has now installed all 38 stainless steel overwater villas. While the first overwater villa took nine hours to install, the process now requires less than two hours.
The first beach villas landed on the island, with one successfully installed. Substantial progress has been made on other front and back of house structures and infrastructure, including foundation work on the spa and two specialized restaurants.
Building Logistics
The Start-Up Distribution Centre and Start-Up Transportation Hub are being completed to provide operational logistic facilities ahead of the opening of the first hotels. More than 150 trucks of materials and 2,000 people are transported daily to the various offshore projects.
Red Sea Airport
The Red Sea International Airport is progressing as planned and is on track to receive its first domestic flights later this year.
Solar Power Plants
Last week, RSG announced the installation of more than 760,000 photovoltaic panels needed to power phase one of The Red Sea.
One of its five solar farms is located near Six Senses Southern Dunes, The Red Sea, which will be the first hotel to open at The Red Sea in the coming months. The solar farm is already powering the utilities at the resort.
There are now more than 25,000 personnel working at the destination, the developer said.
Upon full completion in 2030, the destination will have 50 resorts, 8,000 hotel rooms and more than 1,000 residential properties across 22 islands and six inland sites.
(Writing by D Madhura; Editing by Anoop Menon)
