Regenerative tourism is the new gold standard for resort development. This destination on the Red Sea is leading the way.

03.04.2024 - 13:55 / insider.com / Red Sea Global

When John Pagano arrived in Saudi Arabia in 2018, the country subverted his expectations. "We all paint a picture in our minds of what the Middle East is about," he said. "I found a pristine environment, an archipelago of 90 beautiful islands, and turquoise-colored water. It was truly remarkable."

Pagano, who is Canadian, was moving to the Kingdom to take up a role as chief executive officer of Red Sea Global (RSG), a major new developer of ambitious regenerative tourism destinations. Pagano, an engineer by training, has had a long career working on large-scale real estate projects, including the Canary Wharf development in London and the Baha Mar project in the Bahamas. But this was unlike anything he had done before in its sheer scale. "I was persuaded by His Royal Highness and his vision for transforming the country," he said. "I had the opportunity to be part of it."

Progress has been rapid. When Pagano joined RSG six years ago, he was the company's 15th employee. Today, RSG employs around 5,000 people. RSG's portfolio includes two coastal destinations: The Red Sea and AMAALA. The first resorts at The Red Sea are already open, with luxury hospitality brands Six Senses and St Regis already welcoming guest, with the Ritz-Carlton Reserve joining imminently. By 2030 the destination will be home to 50 hotels, 8,000 rooms and up to 1,000 residential properties, as well as entertainment and leisure facilities. AMAALA, meanwhile, will be home to more than 3,900 hotel rooms across 29 hotels, and 1,200 luxury residential homes, alongside high-end retail establishments, fine dining, and wellness facilities. A third destination, Thuwal Private Retreat, is a buy-out-only resort set to open this year.

Given how remote the three sites are, construction involves building wider infrastructure around the destinations: airports, roads, villages for workers to live in. All of this is done with the company's regenerative ethos in mind: the airport, for instance, aims to be the first in the Middle East to be fully carbon-neutral. "Historically, companies in the region do large-scale developments using third parties," Pagano said. He took a different course: Building a vertically-integrated real estate company to deliver The Red Sea.

Central to RSG's work is the idea of regenerative tourism, which seeks to actively improve the local environment and economy, rather than simply avoiding harm, and to involve local communities in decision making. "Sustainability is about maintaining the status quo, and we're past that that particular point — the world is facing an environmental and ecological crisis," Pagano said. The Red Sea will be the largest destination in the world powered exclusively by renewable energy, 24 hours a