Saudi Crown Prince MBS unveils plans for country’s first SKI RESORT with ‘vertical mountain village’

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has announced plans for the kingdom’s first ski resort – fitted with its own village, luxury and wellness resorts and an ‘interactive nature reserve’ – and expects to attract 700,000 visitors by 2030.

The super-project, called TROJENA, is the latest to be unveiled as part of NEOM – a planned $500 billion city-state that would cover 10,000 square miles of Saudi Arabia‘s Tabuk province, near its borders with Jordan and Egypt.

The word is a combination of the Greek word neos, or ‘new,’ and mustaqbal, Arabic for ‘future.’

TROJENA is set to include an all-year-round ski village, a nearly two-mile man-made freshwater lake, the Middle East Eye reports, and the Vault – a ‘vertical village within the mountain with a fusion of technology, entertainment and hospitality facilities’.

It will sit at the centre of NEOM, around 31 miles from the Gulf of Aqaba coast, in a mountainous region with Saudi Arabia’s highest peaks, some 8,530 feet above sea level. 

The resort also promises the ‘Slope Residences’, luxurious mansions which will overlook the lake and its surroundings.

And it’s not just for skiing – TROJENA is also expected to provide facilities for watersports and mountain biking, with the project set to be completed by 2026.

Bin Salman said of the ambitious endeavour, announced earlier this month: ‘TROJENA will redefine mountain tourism for the world by creating a place based on the principles of ecotourism, highlighting our efforts to preserve nature and enhance the community’s quality of life, which is aligned with the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

‘It also confirms our commitment to be part of the global effort to protect the environment.

‘TROJENA will be an important addition to tourism in the region, a unique example of how Saudi Arabia is creating destinations based on its geographical and environmental diversity.

‘This forward-looking vision will ensure that mountain tourism will be another revenue stream to support the Kingdom’s economic diversification while still preserving its natural resources for future generations.’

The plans expect to draw in ‘700,000 visitors and 7,000 permanent residents to live in TROJENA and its adjacent residential districts by 2030’, and aim to create ‘more than 10,000 jobs and add SAR 3 billion to the Kingdom’s GDP by 2030’.

NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr added: ‘TROJENA represents NEOM’s values and bold plans as a land where nature and innovative technologies come together to form a unique global experience. 

‘This new development is a major contribution to achieving Noem’s long-term ambitions by adhering to the principles of sustainability and utilizing state-of-the-art technology and engineering, across various disciplines, to make NEOM an all-round and attractive world-class destination.’ 

NEOM announced that TROJENA ‘will be made up of six districts: Gateway, Discover, Valley, Explore, Relax and Fun, all of which are designed to offer activities catering to a variety of tastes and needs’.

A press release from the project said: ‘TROJENA aims to change current perceptions of visitors and residents about the services that can be provided by mountain resorts, through its exceptional design, advanced architecture and technology that integrates reality with the virtual world.

Earlier this month Manhattan bankers and investors received an invitation from the prince, for a meeting in April meant to drum up funding for NEOM – which would consist of three manmade cities and a ski resort. 

Bin Salman plans to turn the remote region on the kingdom’s northwest Red Sea coast into a high tech transport hub the size of Belgium, rife with robots and artificial intelligence, as part of an effort to move the country away from its reliance on oil and loosen social restrictions.

In November the country announced plans to build an eight-sided port city that will float on the Red Sea.

The proposed industrial district, called Oxagon, is billed as being ‘a comprehensive cognitive city’ that will make use of robots and AI and act as an industrial port hub for NEOM.

Officials claim it will be a net-zero city, powered entirely by clean energy.

That same month it was reported that Saudi Arabia has started work The Line, a futuristic desert city that will be free of cars and roads and be powered by 100 percent clean energy, with residents expected to move in as early as 2024. 

Other plans for NEOM include flying drone taxis, a Jurassic Park–style amusement park with robotic dinosaurs, and the highest density of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Last October it unveiled plans for a 1.6 million sq ft floating theme park on an oil rig, with rollercoasters, extreme sports and waterslides across interconnected platforms in its latest extravagant tourism drive.

The colossal project, dubbed ‘The Rig,’ will include three hotels and 11 restaurants, swimming pools, a Ferris wheel and white-knuckle rides high above the glittering Persian Gulf.

Digital renderings of the ambitious engineering feat were released this month, showing a large pier for access by cruise ship, a concert venue, gondolas running between the platforms over the sea and an underwater restaurant.