Saudi Arabia to serve wine, cocktails, and champagne in Neom
Saudi Arabia is planning to allow a beach resort in its megaproject Neom to serve alcohol, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).
Scheduled to open as soon as next year, the beach resort on Red Sea’s Sindalah island is expected to offer a premium wine bar, a separate cocktail bar, and a bar for “champagne and desserts,” WSJ reported, citing documents dated January.
Sindalah “will ignite the Red Sea as a new destination for superyachts and attract some of the world’s most affluent and influential people,” WSJ said, according to the planning document.
The plan, WSJ said, also included a retail wine shop within the resort.
The word “alcohol” was not actually present in the planning documents, but WSJ sources said the Sindalah project plans to sell alcoholic beverages.
Sindalah island is located about 5 kilometres from the mainland and has a total land area of approximately 840,000 square meters.
Once built, the luxury beach resort will be one of the first flagship destinations at Neom, the centrepiece of the Kingdom’s $1 trillion bid to invest in tourism – part of the broader Vision 2030 that mainly aims for economic diversification.
Earlier this year, a Saudi government official confirmed it will continue with its “current laws” that prohibit alcohol sale and consumption in the Kingdom.
“We have been doing very well. We have been outperforming globally when it comes to tourism with what we have to offer today. There’s a lot to go around without introducing alcohol,” Princess Haifa Al Saud, the assistant minister for tourism, told a World Economic Forum panel in May.
Neom, in September 2018, organised a consumer survey where 97 percent of expatriate respondents from Singapore and Hong Kong and 95 percent from the US, UK, and France said access to alcohol was “an important incentive to move to Neom,” WSJ reported.
Neom also asked international hotel groups about the same matter, and one anonymous comment said: “Having an alcohol license is essential for the success of the hotel.”
