About

Summary

One of several national ‘giga-projects’ supported by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, NEOM is located in the northwest of Saudi Arabia on the Red Sea and Gulf of Aqaba coasts.

The NEOM project is being developed as a living laboratory that incorporates sustainable cities and industries, communities with a high quality of living, and technology-based services in health, education, transport, sport, entertainment, and other fields.  Within NEOM, there are areas of outstanding natural beauty, globally important heritage sites, vulnerable ecosystems and threatened species.  All of these must be conserved, protected and showcased to the world, as NEOM strives to fulfil its aspiration of being biodiversity net positive.

This study was commissioned to investigate the planning and management of the NEOM Marine Estate, which encompasses 95% of NEOM that will not be developable, and to identify the forms of tourism that will be compatible with it to ensure the environment is protected.

Our Approach

Our role in the project was to identify the key market segments that would be most appropriate for development in NEOM, and to identify tourism mega-trends that would most likely affect its progress.

The four segments that were identified as being most appropriate were diving, non-motorised water sports, SAVE Tourism (Scientific, Academic, Volunteer and Educational) and Community Based Tourism (CBT).  For each of these we identified the relevance for regenerative nature-based tourism (RNBT) in NEOM, current trends in the segment, and competing destinations.  Opportunities and constraints for the development of each within NEOM were also identified.

The identification of international market trends and drivers were also included in the project, with the formulation of 10 mega-trends that were likely to impact on the tourism sector over the next decade.  These were scored to identify their impact on domestic, regional and international tourism.  The opportunities and constraints for each of these trends on the potential development of NEOM were also identified.

Outcome

Potential regenerative nature-based tourism (RNBT) activities that could take place in NEOM’s Seascape were identified. Through the use of various spatial datasets and analysis of the seascape baseline, coupled with input from marine biology and tourism experts, and in recognition of development proposals at NEOM, potential locations for these activities were also identified. Key activity areas, where multiple activities could occur, were then recognised through a heatmap analysis, which has, along with the location of proposed development allowed for the proposal of multiple Activity Zones in a RNBT Activity Plan.

Potential conflicts between activities themselves and with the seascape baseline were also identified, and measures proposed which could help to avoid or minimise conflicts, as well as any unintended effects. Ultimately, this will require a suite of effective management plans, informed by studies (such as carrying capacity) in order to ensure that the RNBT activities at NEOM can directly contribute to the conservation objectives of the region.