Coral Bloom, an International Tourism Destination on the Red Sea

The Coral Bloom project will revitalize the Red Sea region due to its designs inspired by beautiful landscapes and wildlife. (SPA)
The Coral Bloom project will revitalize the Red Sea region due to its designs inspired by beautiful landscapes and wildlife. (SPA)
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Coral Bloom, an International Tourism Destination on the Red Sea

The Coral Bloom project will revitalize the Red Sea region due to its designs inspired by beautiful landscapes and wildlife. (SPA)
The Coral Bloom project will revitalize the Red Sea region due to its designs inspired by beautiful landscapes and wildlife. (SPA)

With the announcement by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman of a giant tourism project in the west of the Kingdom, experts told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Coral Bloom project would be able to revitalize the Red Sea region due to its designs inspired by beautiful landscapes and wildlife.

The Kingdom is heading towards an unprecedented tourism boom, according to the experts, following the recent announcement of a number of major projects. The Coral Bloom comes to activate the first investment in tourism on offshore islands in the country, they underlined.

The hotels and resorts will be operated by the most prestigious international hotel brands, while lightweight building materials with low thermal mass will be used, thus achieving higher energy efficiency and less impact on the environment.

The project responds to the concerns of visitors in wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, by providing wider spaces between hotels, villas and internal corridors.

The Red Sea Project will be developed as a luxury tourist destination that stretches over an area of 28,000 km, and includes more than 90 islands spread over an attractive coastline, characterized by soft white sands, dormant volcanoes, desert, mountains and stunning nature, in addition to distinctive cultural attractions.

The CEO of the Red Sea Development Company, John Pagano, said in recent statements that the estimated cost of the project ranged between 12 and 14 billion riyals (USD 3.7 billion).

The Coral Bloom will include 11 resorts and hotels operated by a number of the most famous global hospitality brands. All the hotels and villas will be composed of a one-story building, which will merge sand dunes, in order to ensure the preservation of the surrounding landscape without any obstruction to the magnificent view on the Red Sea.



Pakistan's Largest Airport Becomes Operational, Part of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative

Passengers wait for their boarding in the state-run Pakistan International Airlines flight to Paris after the airline resumed direct flights to Europe after the EU lifted a four-year ban, at the Islamabad International Airport, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo)
Passengers wait for their boarding in the state-run Pakistan International Airlines flight to Paris after the airline resumed direct flights to Europe after the EU lifted a four-year ban, at the Islamabad International Airport, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo)
TT

Pakistan's Largest Airport Becomes Operational, Part of the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative

Passengers wait for their boarding in the state-run Pakistan International Airlines flight to Paris after the airline resumed direct flights to Europe after the EU lifted a four-year ban, at the Islamabad International Airport, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo)
Passengers wait for their boarding in the state-run Pakistan International Airlines flight to Paris after the airline resumed direct flights to Europe after the EU lifted a four-year ban, at the Islamabad International Airport, in Islamabad, Pakistan, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025. (AP Photo)

Pakistan’s largest airport, funded and built in the country's restive southwest by Beijin g, has become operational, officials said Monday.
Gwadar airport is in the province of Balochistan, which has for decades been the scene of an insurgency by separatists demanding autonomy or outright independence.
Pakistani Defense Minister, Khawaja Mohammad Asif, and Chinese officials were among those attending a ceremony at Gwadar airport and watched the arrival of the Pakistan International Airlines inaugural flight from the southern city of Karachi.
The ceremony came months after Chinese Premier Li Qiang and his Pakistani counterpart Shehbaz Sharif virtually inaugurated the airport, which has a capacity of handling 400,000 travelers annually.
Beijing has invested heavily in the coastal city of Gwadar. Besides the airport, which has an estimated cost of $230 million, China has also constructed a deep seaport in Pakistan as part of Chinese President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative to increase trade by building infrastructure around the world.
Work started on Gawdar airport in 2019. It was supposed to be operational last year but was delayed after a surge in attacks by militants and separatists on Chinese nationals working on projects in the province.
In televised remarks, Asif thanked China for building the airport and said the airport would play a key role in improving the country's economy, attracting international investment and bringing prosperity to Balochistan.
Ethnic Baloch, who accuse the Chinese and others of economic exploitation, oppose the project and other Chinese initiatives in the province.
The Ministry of Planning and Development stated that the airport can handle a combination of ATR 72, Airbus, (A-300), Boeing (B-737), and Boeing (B-747) for domestic and international routes.
Gwadar airport is the country’s largest in terms of area, spread over 4,300 acres of land, according to Pakistan’s civil aviation.