By Maha El Dahan and Andrew Mills
ABU DHABI (Reuters) -Luxury resort developer Red Sea Global plans to expand beyond Saudi Arabia, its CEO John Pagano told Reuters, with a first project abroad focused on tourism and hospitality in Italy.
Pagano also said on Wednesday that he will be joining the board of the kingdom’s mega project NEOM.
RSG, which is owned by Saudi Arabia’s $1 trillion sovereign wealth fund PIF, opened its first ultra luxury resort in November 2023 with four more last year and another five so far this year. Pagano said it will open another 17 by May 2026.
“Our ambitions are beyond just the Saudi Arabian market,” Pagano said in an exclusive interview at the Reuters NEXT Gulf summit in Abu Dhabi, adding the project would fit RSG’s model.
“That’s done, done, done, done,” said Pagano, when asked how far along the overseas deal had come.
ECONOMIC TRANSFORMATION
RSG’s move abroad reflects its success in developing luxury resorts across the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast on islands and inland as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s Vision 2030 programme aimed at transforming the kingdom’s oil-based economy.
“It’s not a tight deadline because this is the culmination of everything that has gone before it,” Pagano said, describing his shepherding of RSG from a handful of staff seven years ago to the 11,000 it now employs.
That track record marks Pagano out as one of the most successful executives involved in Saudi Arabia’s massive development projects over the past decade.
It also explains his appointment to the board of NEOM, almost a year after the exit of long-time CEO Nadhmi Al Nasr.
NEOM, a desert mega-city nearly the size of Belgium was intended to house nearly nine million people by the Red Sea but has faced repeated delays, with sources telling Reuters it has been scaled back as the kingdom focuses on the 2034 World Cup.
“I think they’re going to instigate a number of different changes to help secure the delivery timelines they’ve committed to,” Pagano said of Saudi Arabia’s approach to its mega projects and plans to hose the World Cup and other events.
“The country and the PIF are making sure we don’t fail to meet those commitments,” he added.
‘I PICK THE BEST-IN-CLASS’
While Pagano believes he can bring a fresh perspective to NEOM, RSG’s model would be difficult to replicate.
RSG handles nearly everything rather than deploying other large companies to oversee important elements of the project, awarding almost 18,000 contracts itself, Pagano said.
“We procure individual packages to give us greater control over the selection of the contractors, over the material that is being used,” he said, adding: “I pick the best-in-class”.
This approach is geared towards the ultra-luxury tourism sector that Saudi Arabia is hoping to capture.
“Travellers today are looking for something different. Travellers are looking to travel sustainably. So if you can come to a destination that has worked in harmony with the environment, that has protected nature, that has thriving coral reefs that in and of itself is attractive for guests,” he said.
Luxury travellers were also looking for experiences beyond opulence and comfort, he said, so RSG has built alternatives in Saudi Arabia’s rugged mountains and vast deserts.
It will use its experience in Saudi Arabia to drive its plans for Italy and beyond, said Pagano, adding that it is “going to be very selective”.
“It’ll be something specific, unique that has some synergies with us,” he said.
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(Reporting by Maha El Dahan and Andrew Mills in Abu Dhabi, writing by Angus McDowall, editing by Alexander Smith)
