Riyadh, December 12, 2018, SPA -- Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud received today at Arqa Palace in Riyadh the Red Sea Project team, led by His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Defense and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Red Sea Development Company, and John Pagano, the Chief Executive Officer for the Red Sea Development Company. The audience included a visual presentation on the project's overall outline and its economic and development objectives to become a global destination in the luxury tourism sector. According to the revised strategy of the master plan for the project, the first phase, which will be completed in 2022, will see the establishment of about 3,000 hotel rooms with its facilities, a dedicated airport, yacht berths and residential and recreational facilities. With the completion of all stages of the project, 22 islands of more than 90 islands will be developed and more than 70,000 jobs will be created. It will also play an important role in driving the Kingdom's economic diversification by attracting about 1 million tourists annually, contributing 22 billion Saudi riyals to the Kingdom's GDP. At the end of the audience, the Red Sea Project team greeted the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, who praised the objective of the project, which will put the Kingdom on the world map of tourism and contribute to creating investment opportunities for the local private sector as well as developing the tourism sector in the Kingdom while preserving the cultural and environmental heritage. --SPA 23:06 LOCAL TIME 20:06 GMT 0034 www.spa.gov.sa/w804309