Featured Image Credit: Saudi Public Investment Fund
Topics: News, World News
Gerrard Kaonga
A theme park that considers itself an ‘extreme destination’ has announced plans for quite an impressive holiday trip.
As you may have noticed from an increase advertisements to holiday there and international investment in sports, Saudi Arabia has big plans for the future.
This includes a theme park simply titled The Rig - which was announced in late January this year.
Advert
Located 25 miles away off its coast, it seems like an adrenaline junkie's dream as it sits atop a decommissioned oil rig.
In addition to this, the projections say the destination will have 3 hotels, 11 restaurants and over 70 activities for those daring enough to visit the spot.
The experiences available seem to vary vastly as there will be ziplines, obstacle courses, rollercoasters and cable cars.
One of the restaurants is also expected to be suspended in the air - in case you wanted to find a way to jazz up your holiday eating experience.
But for those who would still like some more calming down time, there are also plans for a retail park and cinema as well as a pool, water park and Ferris Wheel.
If everything goes to plan, there are hopes the park will be able to host 10,000 people per day by 2032.
Even getting to the location could prove more daring than some would be use to as guests are expected to arrive either via ‘fast ferries, helicopters or seaplanes’.
“This is no theme park – it’s an extreme destination, an entirely new playground for adventure tourism,” the website reads.
And their overall mission and vision seems to be in line with this as it says they want ‘to be the world benchmark for providing a one of a kind hospitality and adventure experience on sustainable oil platforms in the middle of the sea'.
The website also adds that it hopes to 'diversify and enrich the Kingdom’s tourism and entertainment experiences, increase tourism and entertainment investment, and diversify the economy'.
So no pressure then.
The attraction is being developed by Oil Park Development Company (OPDC), a company owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia.
The investment is part of Saudi Arabia’s attempts to diversify the country’s income and move away from its reliance on oil.
Despite this, British environmentalist group Just Stop Oil has taken issue with the plans for the theme park.
Speaking to GB News, a spokesperson said: “Given the UK government's utterly irresponsible intention to max out on North Sea gas & oil whilst claiming to be a world leader on addressing the climate emergency, it's not surprising any country is mocking us.
"The whole world, including the Saudis, needs to stop all new oil and gas, invest hugely in renewables & consign these ugly stranded assets to the history books."
UNILAD has contacted The Rig for comment.