Shura Island is the main island of the Red Sea Project on the west coast of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The archipelago, including the island, is home to the world's fourth-largest barrier reef system, untouched corals, and is inhabited by several endangered species, with an area of 5.6 km. The dolphin-shaped island of Shura represents the main gateway to the Red Sea Project, one of the world's most ambitious renewable tourism projects. The project area is 28 thousand km, including twenty-two tourist islands and ninety uninhabited islands.
Environment of Shura Island
Shura Island has a pristine natural environment, including many endangered organisms, untouched coral reefs, and mangroves. The Red Sea project aims to conserve the island by up to 30 percent. It is also developing the largest battery storage system in the world to work with renewable energy. This will allow the entire site to be powered by twenty-four-hour renewable energy.
Tourism in Shura Island
In 2021, His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed Bin Salman Bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Red Sea Global Company announced the Coral Bloom designs for Shura Island, which aligns with the island's biological diversity. The designs were particularly concerned with maintaining mangroves and other habitats as they act as natural barriers against erosion and erosion-causing factors.
Shura Island has eleven hotels and resorts. It is built with low thermal mass building materials. Additional beaches and a lake are being established to raise the island's elevation and contribute to rising sea levels. The first phase of development is currently underway on the island. It includes completing the infrastructure and is expected to be completed by 2023.
The Red Sea Project
The Red Sea Project's master plan was approved in January 2019. Efforts for completing the first phase are underway and expected to be completed in 2022. It includes establishing and developing five islands, sixteen hotels, two locations on the mainland, and three thousand hotel rooms. The second phase of the project is expected to be completed in 2030. It will include the development and construction of twenty-two islands, six sites on the mainland, forty-eight hotels, and eight thousand hotel rooms.
The Red Sea Global Company is responsible for the development and construction of the Red Sea Project, including Shura Island. Its goal is to create tourist destinations that promote tourism in the Kingdom internationally. It will set new standards for sustainable development, create seventy thousand jobs, and contribute SAR22 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP).
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