Leyja has been announced as a new mountain tourism destination in northwest Saudi Arabia, as part of the NEOM tourism mega city project, headed up by Niall Gibbons the former CEO of Tourism Ireland.
Leyja is located in the futuristic new tourism city NEOM and features a natural valley surrounded by mountains and the Gulf of Aqaba coast.
Leyja, part of a $500bn development, will serve as a sustainable and eco-tourism hub in the mountains, with no confirmed opening date or specific facilities announced yet.
The region will start at the Gulf of Aqaba and extend up to the 400-meter-high mountains of NEOM, featuring three hotels: Wellness Hotel, Oasis Hotel, and Adventure Hotel, each with 40 keys (rooms).
Leyja, categorised as an ultra-luxury project in the Public Investment Fund portfolio, will encompass high-end stores, helipads, and fine-dining restaurants led by renowned chefs. The destination will offer fine dining, wellness facilities, guided walks, hiking trails, and adventure activities such as mountain biking and climbing.
Saudi Arabia aims to increase its previous target of 100m visitors by 2030 to 150m, and projects like Leyja, along with others such as Soudah Peaks, Trojena, Red Sea, and Diriyah, are expected to drive tourism numbers and spending.
The destination is designed to align with Saudi Vision 2030 and NEOM’s commitment to sustainable tourism, with 95pc of the area preserved for nature.
The name NEOM is derived from two words, the first three letters come from Greek and the ‘M’ from ‘Mustaqbal’, an Arabic word meaning and the first letter of the Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman.
