{"id":8085,"date":"2018-04-29T13:02:44","date_gmt":"2018-04-29T12:02:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/?p=8085"},"modified":"2018-04-29T13:02:44","modified_gmt":"2018-04-29T12:02:44","slug":"saudi-arabia-launches-multi-billion-dollar-entertainment-resort","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/saudi-arabia-launches-multi-billion-dollar-entertainment-resort\/","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia launches multi-billion dollar entertainment resort"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-8086\" src=\"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Qiddiya.jpg\" alt=\"Qiddiya\" width=\"293\" height=\"172\" \/>With fireworks illuminating the dramatic Tuwaiq escarpment, hundreds of guests from inside the Kingdom and around the world had a taste on Saturday of the fun to come at Qiddiya, Saudi Arabia\u2019s first entertainment, sport and cultural city.<br \/>\nThe fireworks were triggered by King Salman, as he put in place the last baton of the Qiddiya logo, part of the ground-breaking ceremony for the project 40 km west of Riyadh.<br \/>\nHe was accompanied by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Chairman of the Public Investment Fund, whose Vision 2030 plan aims to boost the entertainment sector and economy in Saudi Arabia, and energize the tourism industry.<br \/>\nQiddiya is one of many measures aimed at reducing the Kingdom\u2019s reliance on oil and diversifying its economy. It is expected to be the world\u2019s largest entertainment city by 2030, with a total area of 334 square kilometers, surpassing Walt Disney World in Florida, which is 110 sq km.<br \/>\n\u201cIn creating Qiddiya, we are building a brighter future,\u201d said its CEO, Michael Reininger. \u201cOne filled with culture, sports, entertainment and the arts that responds to the Saudi people\u2019s desire for new and accessible activities that enrich their lives.<br \/>\n\u201cQiddiya will also create a self-sustaining ecosystem. Based on our five cornerstones, which are parks and attractions; motion and mobility; nature and environment; sports and wellness; and culture, arts, and education, our development will be supported by retail, residential, and hospitality offerings to form a fully-integrated entertainment destination.\u201d<br \/>\nAfter Reininger\u2019s opening address, which was preceded by the national anthem and a recitation of the Qur\u2019an, Aa\u2019ed Yousef performed a song with lyrics by Prince Badr bin Abdulmohsen, a gift to King Salman.<br \/>\nThe audience was then shown a video on the wide range of tourist attractions that Qiddiya promises, including theme parks, sports facilities, motorsport tracks, and nature and safari experiences.<br \/>\nConsidering that almost two-thirds of Saudis are under 35 years old, the project is a much-needed attraction, said Abdan Al-Abdan, 27, from Riyadh.<\/p>\n<div id=\"fb-root\"><\/div>\r\n<script>(function(d, s, id) {\r\n  var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\r\n  if (d.getElementById(id)) return;\r\n  js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\r\n  js.src = \"\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_GB\/all.js#xfbml=1\";\r\n  fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\r\n}(document, \"script\", \"facebook-jssdk\"));<\/script>\r\n <fb:comments href=\"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/saudi-arabia-launches-multi-billion-dollar-entertainment-resort\/\" font=\"arial\" num_posts=\"\" width=\"\" height=\"\" colorscheme=\"light\"  style=\"background:#FFFFFF;padding-top:0px;\r\npadding-right:0px;\r\npadding-bottom:0px;\r\npadding-left:0px;\r\nmargin-top:0px;\r\nmargin-right:0px;\r\nmargin-bottom:0px;\r\nmargin-left:0px;\r\n\"><\/fb:comments>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With fireworks illuminating the dramatic Tuwaiq escarpment, hundreds of guests from inside the Kingdom and around the world had a taste on Saturday of the fun to come at Qiddiya, Saudi Arabia\u2019s first entertainment, sport and cultural city. The fireworks were triggered by King Salman, as he put in place the last baton of the &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8086,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1,2],"tags":[],"wps_subtitle":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8085"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8085"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8087,"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8085\/revisions\/8087"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8086"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.thesunrisetoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}