Saudi Arabia submits bid to host 2029 Asian Winter Games

Saudi Arabia has submitted an official bid to host the 2029 Asian Winter Games in NEOM's futuristic Trojena sports city, the kingdom's state-run press agency SPA reported. Trojena is part of NEOM, a planned megacity and the $500bn brainchild of Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman at the center of plans to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from petrodollars, Middle East Eye writes.

The resort, set to be built in the Sarawat mountains, is located 50 kilometres (30 miles) east of the Red Sea coast and is 10 degrees Celsius cooler on average than the rest of the region. Saudi Arabia says it will host an "all-year ski village". Skiing is not new to the Middle East. Lebanon is home to Mzaar and Faraya ski resorts, which have traditionally been magnets for wealthy Gulf vacationers. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE all boast indoor ski resorts, but Trojena would be the first outdoor facility. 

While the area is one of the few locations in the desert kingdom that receives snow, it's unclear whether there would be enough to support winter sports activities on the scale Saudi Arabia envisions. Around 700,000 tourists are predicted to visit each year once the project is completed in 2026. Besides a ski village, Saudi Arabia says Trojena will include ultra-luxury family and wellness resorts, retail stores and restaurants. A vertical village is also set to be carved into the mountainside.

Many have called into question the feasibility of NEOM. The deadline for the city's completion is set for 2025, but there is little evidence on the ground of building progress having been made. The project has already been stymied by delays and hit by an exodus of employees, many of them Western consultants, who have complained about Saudi executives' unreachable demands. Former employees have said NEOM CEO Nadhmi al-Nasr has a short temper. Some have also challenged NEOM's status as a carbon-neutral, environmentally friendly futuristic city. The construction of Trojena for example would require "blowing up large portions of the landscape" to build an artificial lake in the centre of the resort, according to Bloomberg. 

If Saudi Arabia's bid is successful it would be the first country in the Middle East to host the games, which first took place in Japan in 1986. Saudi Arabia is putting sports at the centre of its economic diversification plan. 

The Olympic Council of Asia on Thursday welcomed the official request submitted by the Saudi Arabian Olympic and Paralympic Committee to host the ninth Asian Winter Games in Trojena, NEOM in 2029, Arabic language daily Arriyadiyah reported.

 “The general assembly scheduled to be hosted in Cambodia on October 4 will make the decision on the (Saudi) Kingdom’s bid to host the tournament, which launched its first edition in Japan in 1986, and is considered the largest sports winter event in the Asian continent.”, said in a press statement.

The Kuwait-based council praised the efforts to promote winter sports in countries that do not have a traditional snow season, particularly in a city that is characterized by distinctive and innovative architecture: “It will provide a unique experience in West Asia and Middle East region for winter sports.”

It also highlighted that the city in northwest Saudi Arabia, which is being developed as a winter sports destination within the framework of the country’s’s Vision 2030 program, is a place where natural landscapes coexist with tourist sites.

After submitting the official bid on Wednesday, President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal said: “The bid to host the AWG affirms the geographical, environmental diversity and natural wealth that the Kingdom enjoys and is willing to share with our wider Asian Olympic family. We are very excited to welcome all Winter Sports enthusiasts in 2029, aiming to celebrate an incomparable experience in Trojena.”