A country’s window of opportunity in which to implement reforms such as NEOM typically comes around only once or twice in a generation. For this reason, Saudis have a profound interest in ensuring they get these reforms right - as does the United States, which can only benefit from a more open, prosperous, and socially tolerant Saudi partner in the Middle East.

Vision 2030 enumerates a very broad range of economic and social reforms, but is silent on the issue of political reform. If anything, Vision 2030 has become a vehicle for consolidating King Salman and his son Mohammed bin Salman’s political position. The latter’s stewardship of Vision 2030 helped burnish his public image and ease his accession to Crown Prince.

NEOM, will see its own airport being built near the kingdom’s Tabuk area.  The airport is reportedly located 10 kilometers from Sharma, 75 kilometers from Daba and will be initially coordinated with Prince Sultan City.  The airport’s code registered with the International Civil Aviation Organization is OENN.  It will boast a runway of 3,757 metres long at 151 degrees on one side and 331 degrees on the other.

Aradhana Khowala has been appointed as NEOM’s managing director of tourism, the  project announced yesterday.  NEOM, a $500 billion megacity, is a key part of the Kingdom’s strategic vision to diversify the economy.  

“We will be working alongside Aradhana to make NEOM an exceptional global tourism destination looking ahead to the future,” said CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr in a tweet on NEOM's official account. 

Khowala, who was CEO & founder of Aptamind, is considered a world expert in the tourism and hospitality industry, and was awarded the 21st Century Icon Awards in association with CNBC and London School of Economics as an inspirational game changer and tourism leader.

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman is on holiday in NEOM, where he will enjoy some rest and recreation, according to a statement released by the Saudi Press Agency. 

This is an encouraging sign that NEOM, currently restricted to public access while under construction, is nevertheless progressing nicely.

This past October, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman unveiled the Kingdom’s plans for NEOM, a $500 billion, 26,500km2 transnational megacity and economic hub the likes of which the world has never seen. 

Backed by the Kingdom’s vast Public Investment Fund, NEOM will operate as an independent economic zone powered solely by regenerative energy, spanning three countries, complete with its own self-governing laws and regulations and all strategically designed for economic stimulation.

Saudi Arabia's King Salman has gone on holiday in a still-undeveloped £380billion mega city billed as a Middle East silicon valley.  The 82-year-old has arrived in NEOM, a city that his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, has pledged to build from scratch in the remote northwest.

It is an unusual holiday destination for King Salman, who in summer can often be seen in exotic locations such as the French Riviera, Marbella in southern Spain and Tangier, Morocco.

The king's son and heir apparent Mohammed bin Salman announced plans for the 10,230 square mile futuristic high-tech hub last year as part of reforms aimed at creating jobs, encouraging foreign investment and permitting new freedoms for Saudis steeped in religious puritanism and state dependency.

With ambitious plans to transform its economy as part of the crown prince's Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia is hoping to boost foreign direct investment (FDI) into the country as it embarks on a post-oil era and ambitious mega projects like the futuristic city of NEOM.

Ibrahim Al-Omar, governor of the Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), said foreign direct investment (FDI) was growing in Saudi Arabia.

Egypt will allow stretches of land in the southern Sinai to be used for Saudi Arabia’s planned megacity NEOM project announced by the Kingdom last October.  The agreement forms part of a $10 billion joint investment fund the two countries signed during the visit to Cairo this week by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to a Saudi official.  The size of the committed land is said to be more than 1,000 square kilometers.

Saudi Arabia’s 26,500-square-kilometer NEOM project is to focus on industries including water and energy, food, media, advanced manufacturing, biotechnology and entertainment.

The Saudi Arabian government has begun to award contracts for the development of a huge business zone in the northwest of the country, asking local construction companies to build five palaces there, sources close to the matter told Reuters.

Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman announced plans for the 26,500 square km (10,230 square mile) zone, known as NEOM, at an international investment conference in Riyadh last October. Officials said public and private investment in the area was eventually expected to total $500 billion.

The palaces for the king, crown prince and other senior royals, to be located on the Red Sea coast about 150 kilometres (95 miles) west of the city of Tabuk, are among the first contracts awarded for NEOM, said the sources who declined to be named as an official announcement has not yet been made.

Robots may outnumber humans in a new pioneering city billed by Saudi Arabia as "a new blueprint for sustainable life", which would be entirely powered by renewable energy, and served by driverless vehicles and vertical farms.

The city called NEOM is to span an area of 26,500 square kilometres, stretching across the borders of northwest Saudi Arabia into Jordan and Egypt. It is designed to operate as an independent economic trade zone with its own laws, and is to become the first private business zone to span three countries.

Saudi Arabia will pump $500 billion (£382 billion) from its sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund, into nine key investment sectors in the city: energy and water, mobility, biotech, food, technological and digital sciences, advanced manufacturing, media, and entertainment.