Red Sea Global, a key giga-project in Saudi Arabia, has announced plans to launch 19 new luxury hotels in 2025. This year, the project will debut two hotels, one uniquely carved into a mountainside.

“2023 saw us opening our first resort, and in 2024, we’ve opened another two resorts, and there are another two to come later this year. 2025 is a massive year for us. We’ll open 11 resorts at the Red Sea and eight at Amaala, and there’s a pipeline of projects that takes us through to 2030,” Ben Edwards, Red Sea Global’s group head of cost, commercial and procurement, told delegates at a hospitality sector forum in Dubai.

The two hotels set to open this year are Shebara, featuring over-the-water villas in specially designed pod-like steel orbs, and Desert Rock.

“Desert Rock is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. This is a hotel that’s literally built into the side of the mountain. They drilled and blasted a 180-meter-long tunnel through the mountain and formed these cave-unit guest bedrooms,” noted Edwards.

Edwards noted that the total value of contracts awarded so far amounts to $19.6 billion, with $7.27 billion allocated in 2023. This accounts for nearly 83% of the projected $23.6 billion total estimated by real estate consultancy Knight Frank for the entire Red Sea Global project.

Additionally, Red Sea Global is expected to contribute $62 billion to GDP during construction. The project aims to develop 50 hotels along the Red Sea and 29 at Amaala, with a completion target set for 2030.