Saudi Arabia wants to find a new source of income through tourism because income from oil sales is unsustainable. Various tourist attraction centers began to be built with promotions carried out by western social media celebrities. Next in the plan to make Saudi Arabia a popular tourist destination in the world is The Rig, a theme park built on an oil rig.
The Rig project was announced by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF) which became popular recently after taking over the English Premier League football club Newcastle United. Despite using the name The Rig, it does not recycle old oil rigs. Instead a new structure like an oil rig will be built in the Persian Gulf.
It will house 3 hotels with 800 rooms, 11 restaurants, an entertainment arena and various entertainment activities. Among them are water theme parks, diving activities, activities using mini submarines, Ferris wheels, roller coasters, cable cars, bungee jumping, flying fox, and many more. All of them are placed in The Rig with a platform area of 15,000 square meters.
The Rig is just one of dozens of PIF projects that want to develop Saudi Arabia's tourism industry by 2025. Previously the Red Sea Project was announced as a zero-waste sustainable resort and Six Flags Qiddiya will have the world's longest, fastest and highest roller coaster.