The Red Sea in Saudi Arabia: Complete Guide to Projects, Tourism & Infrastructure (2026)
The Red Sea has always been one of the world’s great bodies of water. Ancient trade routes crossed it. Empires fought over its shores. Three of the world’s major religions have history written along its coastline.
What is happening to the Saudi side of the Red Sea right now is something different — and in some ways just as significant. A country that was largely closed to the world for decades has opened its longest coastline to international tourism, poured the largest hospitality investment in history into developing it, and staked a significant part of its national economic future on making it work.
The early results are extraordinary. A luxury resort on a private island above a coral reef. An international airport in the desert. A film festival that has become one of the Arab world’s most anticipated cultural events. A shopping mall in Jeddah that draws more visitors than most tourist attractions in the region.
This guide brings all of it together — the mega-projects, the beaches, the resorts, the hotels, the infrastructure, the film festival, the mall, and the companies making it operate. Whether you are planning a visit, evaluating an investment, or trying to understand what is actually being built on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast — this is where to start.
The Red Sea in Saudi Arabia: Understanding the Geography
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coastline runs for approximately 1,800 kilo meters along the western edge of the Arabian Peninsula, from the Gulf of Aqaba in the north — where Saudi Arabia, Jordan, and Egypt meet — to the Bab-el-Mandeb strait in the south, near Yemen.
This coastline is not uniform. It changes dramatically as you move from north to south.
The northern coastline — from Tabuk down towards Yanbu — contains the clearest water, the most dramatic landscapes, and the greatest concentration of new tourism investment. The Tabuk region is where the Red Sea Project and NEOM are being built. The area around Umluj is where the most spectacular island scenery is found. Yanbu is where diving is best established with the most accessible infrastructure.
The central coastline is dominated by Jeddah — Saudi Arabia’s second-largest city and primary commercial hub, sitting directly on the Red Sea. Jeddah is the gateway to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, a major international airport hub, a growing cultural destination, and the home of Red Sea Mall, one of the most visited shopping destinations in the Kingdom.
The southern coastline around Jizan and the Farasan Islands is the least developed for tourism but contains some of the richest marine biodiversity anywhere in the Red Sea. This is the quiet, undiscovered end of a coastline that is in the process of becoming one of the world’s most significant tourism destinations.
Underpinning all of it — the strategy, the investment, the ambition — is Saudi Vision 2030, the national transformation programme that identified tourism as a primary pillar of Saudi Arabia’s economic future.
Red Sea Global and the Red Sea Project
No single entity has done more to shape the modern story of the Saudi Red Sea than Red Sea Global.
Red Sea Global is the government-owned company — wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund — responsible for developing two of the largest tourism destinations ever conceived: the Red Sea Project and AMAALA. Both are on the Saudi Red Sea coast. Both are unlike anything else being built in the world right now.
The Red Sea Project
The Red Sea Project covers 28,000 square kilometres of coastline, islands, mountains, and desert in the Tabuk region. The scale is difficult to visualise: it is larger than many countries. Within it, 90 islands, some of the world’s best-preserved coral reef, dormant volcanoes, and ancient archaeological sites are being developed into a luxury tourism destination with a legally binding commitment to net-zero carbon, no single-use plastic, and 75 percent of the natural environment preserved.
The first properties are open. Shebara Resort — Saudi Arabia’s first overwater villa resort, sitting above coral reef on its own private island. Six Senses Southern Dunes — the international wellness brand’s Saudi debut, set in the dunes at the edge of the coastline. Nujuma — A Ritz-Carlton Reserve — one of fewer than ten such properties in the world, on a private island in the Umluj archipelago. Jumeirah Red Sea — the Dubai luxury group’s entry into the Saudi market.
The full vision includes 50 hotels, 8,000 hotel rooms, a marina village, a golf course, and adventure tourism infrastructure. At completion, the Red Sea Project is expected to draw one million visitors annually and contribute SAR 22 billion per year to the Saudi economy.
For the complete breakdown of everything the Red Sea Project has built, what is still coming, and what the AMAALA companion destination involves, read our dedicated guide to the Red Sea Project and Red Sea Global.
Red Sea International Airport
The Red Sea Project’s own airport — the Red Sea International Airport (RSIA) — is operational in its first phase. Located in the Tabuk region near the project’s main development zone, it is designed to eventually process three million passengers annually. The terminal has been built to international standards and runs on renewable energy.
The airport changes the accessibility equation for the entire northern Red Sea coast. What previously required a domestic connection through Jeddah or Tabuk is now a direct international arrival. As more routes are added and the airport reaches its designed capacity, it will become one of the most important new gateways in the Middle East.
Red Sea Gateway Terminal
The Red Sea Gateway Terminal in Jeddah’s Islamic Port is a separate but equally significant piece of the Red Sea infrastructure story. It is one of the largest container terminal operations in the region, handling a significant portion of Saudi Arabia’s import and export cargo through the Red Sea.
The terminal is operated by Red Sea Gateway Terminal (RSGT) and has undergone substantial expansion in recent years, increasing its annual capacity to over 9 million TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units). Jeddah Islamic Port is the primary maritime gateway to Saudi Arabia’s western region — the goods that supply the country’s largest population centres arrive here.
For businesses operating in logistics, supply chain, and maritime services, understanding the Red Sea Gateway Terminal’s capacity and operations is fundamental to understanding how Saudi Arabia’s western region economy functions.
The terminal’s continued expansion directly mirrors the growth in Saudi Arabia’s import volumes as Vision 2030-driven development accelerates consumption across every sector.
Red Sea Beaches, Resorts and Hotels
The Saudi Red Sea coastline offers one of the world’s most compelling beach and marine tourism propositions — and it has been largely unknown to international visitors until very recently.
The water along the Saudi Red Sea is exceptionally clear, with visibility regularly reaching 20 to 25 metres. Coral reef coverage is among the densest in the world. Marine biodiversity — fish, rays, whale sharks, sea turtles, dugongs — is extraordinary. And unlike the more famous Red Sea destinations on the Egyptian side, the Saudi coastline remains largely uncrowded.
Key beach destinations include:
Umluj — A network of islands, turquoise lagoons, and white sand beaches in the northern Red Sea, widely described as Saudi Arabia’s Maldives. The most scenic stretch of coastline in the Kingdom and the setting for several of the Red Sea Project’s resort developments.
Yanbu — The most accessible Red Sea beach destination, with world-class shore diving, a well-developed corniche, and a full range of accommodation. Yanbu Al-Bahr (Yanbu on the Sea) is where the local beach culture is most established.
NEOM coastline — Dramatic landscapes where desert mountains meet the sea, with exceptionally clear water and minimal development. The most visually distinctive coastal environment in Saudi Arabia.
Farasan Islands — A protected marine archipelago near Jizan in the southern Red Sea, with extraordinary biodiversity and almost no tourist infrastructure. The Red Sea’s best-kept secret.
For everything you need to know about beaches, resort options, hotel choices, seasonal timing, diving, and practical visitor information, read our complete guide to Red Sea beaches, resorts and hotels.
Red Sea Film Festival — Jeddah's Global Cultural Event
The Red Sea International Film Festival is held annually in Jeddah and has rapidly established itself as one of the most significant film festivals in the Arab world and one of the most watched new festivals globally.
Launched in 2021, the festival takes place in Jeddah’s historic Al-Balad district and draws international filmmakers, talent, and industry figures alongside a large Saudi and regional audience. The programming covers Arab cinema, international premieres, retrospectives, and industry events — and the festival has made a deliberate commitment to supporting emerging Arab filmmakers with funding and development programmes.
The timing of the festival’s launch is not coincidental. Saudi Arabia legalised cinema in 2018 after a decades-long ban. The country has gone from zero cinema screens to hundreds in under six years. A film festival of genuine international ambition, held in the country’s cultural capital, is the logical next step in a very deliberate cultural opening.
The Red Sea Film Festival typically takes place in November or December each year. For visitors planning a trip to Jeddah, the festival period is one of the most culturally rich times to be in the city — hotels fill up, the Al-Balad district is transformed, and the energy of an international festival brings a different dimension to what is already a fascinating urban destination.
Red Sea Airport — Gateway to the New Saudi Coastline
Two airports serve the Saudi Red Sea region and both are integral to understanding the accessibility of the destinations being developed.
King Abdulaziz International Airport (JED) in Jeddah is Saudi Arabia’s second-busiest airport and the primary international gateway to the Red Sea coast. It connects to over 100 international destinations and is the hub through which most tourists and business travellers enter the Red Sea region. The airport has undergone significant modernisation, with the Hajj Terminal remaining one of the most distinctive airport facilities in the world.
Red Sea International Airport (RSIA) is the purpose-built gateway to the Red Sea Project in the Tabuk region. Operational in its first phase, it is designed for eventual three million passenger annual capacity and represents the infrastructure backbone of the entire northern Red Sea tourism development. As more international routes are added, RSIA will progressively reduce the need for domestic connections through Jeddah.
Tabuk Regional Airport (TUU) currently handles the majority of flights into the Tabuk region while RSIA expands. Direct flights from Riyadh and Jeddah make it the most practical current access point for the northern Red Sea coast and the NEOM development zone.
Together, these three airports form the air access framework for a coastline that is in the process of becoming one of the world’s most significant tourism regions.
The Operational Backbone: Seerah's Role in the Red Sea Story
The Red Sea development story has two layers that are always discussed separately but are inseparable in practice.
The first layer is the visible one — the resorts, the airports, the malls, the film festival, the mega-projects. This is what gets photographed, written about, and announced.
The second layer is the operational one — the thousands of people keeping it all running, the systems being maintained around the clock, the facility management programmes that determine whether a luxury resort actually feels luxurious day after day, and whether a shopping mall continues to attract visitors year after year.
This is the layer where Seerah operates.
As one of Saudi Arabia’s established providers of integrated facility management services — covering hard FM (MEP maintenance, HVAC, planned preventive maintenance, energy management), soft FM (cleaning, sterilisation, landscaping, janitorial), and specialist hospitality FM — Seerah works across the commercial, hospitality, retail, and infrastructure environments that make up the Red Sea development story.
Equally, the scale of the Red Sea’s construction and operational workforce requirement is enormous. Tens of thousands of people are needed across project sites, resort operations, retail environments, logistics facilities, and supporting infrastructure. Deploying that workforce compliantly — in full accordance with Saudi labour law and Saudization (Nitaqat) requirements — while maintaining the quality standards that international brands and investors demand, is a specialist capability.
Seerah’s manpower solutions cover the full spectrum: engineers, technicians, hospitality professionals, supervisors, maintenance teams, soft service operatives, and management staff — deployed across Vision 2030 project sites and operational facilities throughout the Kingdom.
For developers, investors, hotel operators, logistics companies, and facility owners active in the Red Sea region, Seerah is the operational partner built for this moment in Saudi Arabia’s development. The projects are extraordinary. Making them work every day requires extraordinary operations behind them.
Conclusion: The Red Sea Moment
There are moments in the life of a destination when everything changes at once — when the investment arrives, the infrastructure opens, the first guests check in, and what was a concept on a master plan becomes a real place with real people in it.
The Saudi Red Sea is in that moment right now.
The resorts are open. The airport is receiving flights. The film festival is drawing international talent to Jeddah every year. Red Sea Mall is doing what it has always done — anchoring daily life in one of the Arab world’s great cities. And behind all of it, the Red Sea Project is building what will eventually be recognised as one of the defining tourism destinations of the 21st century.
For travellers, the window to experience this coastline before it becomes crowded and mainstream is open now. For investors and developers, the scale of what is still to be built represents one of the most significant commercial opportunities in the region. For operational partners, the demand for world-class facility management and manpower services will sustain itself for decades.
The Red Sea has always been significant. What Saudi Arabia is building along its shores is about to make it famous in an entirely new way.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Red Sea in Saudi Arabia
1. What is the Red Sea?
The Red Sea is a semi-enclosed body of water between the Arabian Peninsula and northeastern Africa, connected to the Indian Ocean via the Gulf of Aden. Saudi Arabia holds approximately 1,800 kilometres of Red Sea coastline along the western edge of the Arabian Peninsula, from the Gulf of Aqaba in the north to the Bab-el-Mandeb strait in the south.
2. Is Saudi Arabia's Red Sea open to tourists?
Yes. Saudi Arabia launched its tourist e-visa programme in 2019, opening the country to international visitors for the first time. Red Sea destinations — beaches, resorts, and urban destinations like Jeddah — are fully accessible to tourists from 49 countries.
3.What is Red Sea Global?
Red Sea Global is the Saudi government-owned company responsible for developing the Red Sea Project and AMAALA — two luxury tourism mega-destinations on the Saudi Red Sea coast. It is wholly owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) and is one of the most significant hospitality developers in the world.
4. What is the Red Sea Project?
The Red Sea Project is a 28,000 km² luxury tourism destination being built in Saudi Arabia’s Tabuk region. It will eventually include 50 hotels, a marina, an international airport, and comprehensive tourism infrastructure, with a commitment to net-zero carbon and preservation of 75 percent of its natural environment.
5. What services does Seerah provide in the Red Sea region?
Seerah provides integrated facility management and manpower solutions across Saudi Arabia, including the Red Sea region. Services cover hard and soft FM for hospitality, retail, commercial, and infrastructure environments, alongside compliant workforce deployment for construction, operations, and support functions. Contact Seerah to discuss your specific requirements.
6.What is the Red Sea Gateway Terminal?
The Red Sea Gateway Terminal is a major container port operation at Jeddah Islamic Port, handling over 9 million TEU annually. It is one of the largest and most important maritime logistics facilities in the Middle East and the primary cargo gateway for Saudi Arabia’s western region.
