NEOM, Saudi Arabia's ambitious futuristic mega-city project, announced the opening of its first physical destination on Sunday: a luxury island in the Red Sea called Sindalah. This unveiling comes just days before the start of a significant investor forum, informally dubbed "Davos in the Desert," set to begin in Riyadh on Tuesday.

The luxury island, Sindalah, is part of NEOM's broader vision to support Saudi Arabia’s emerging luxury tourism sector. NEOM’s Chief Executive, Nadhmi al-Nasr, described the opening as a “first glimpse” of the mega-city's future offerings. “NEOM is committed to supporting the Kingdom’s new era of luxury tourism, with the opening of Sindalah,” al-Nasr said.

Spread over 840,000 square meters (approximately 200 acres), Sindalah aims to become a prime tourist destination featuring high-end restaurants, hotels, and yachting berths. The island is expected to accommodate up to 2,400 guests per day by 2028, showcasing NEOM’s vision of a sustainable and luxurious future.

NEOM, which gained worldwide attention with the 2022 unveiling of its signature project, The Line, continues to attract both interest and skepticism. The Line, a pair of parallel 170-kilometer-long, mirror-covered skyscrapers extending inland from the coast, is anticipated to house over a million residents by 2030 and reach nine million by 2045. However, a report from Bloomberg earlier this year indicated that only 300,000 residents might be living in The Line by the decade’s end, with just 2.4 kilometers of the project expected to be completed by then.

Despite the revised projections, NEOM remains a key component of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's initiative to transition the world’s largest oil exporter towards a diversified, post-oil economy. The Vision 2030 blueprint includes several high-profile development projects aimed at boosting tourism, infrastructure, and entertainment sectors.

Saudi Arabia’s aspirations also extend to the global sporting arena. Last year, the kingdom became the sole bidder to host the 2034 FIFA World Cup, giving it a decade to develop new stadiums and expand its hospitality and transportation capacities.

In December, Finance Minister Mohammed al-Jadaan announced that the timeline for some major projects had been adjusted beyond 2030, although he did not specify which initiatives would be delayed. The gradual progression of NEOM, alongside these other initiatives, underscores the scale and complexity of Saudi Arabia’s transformation ambitions.