John Pagano is the Group Chief Executive Officer of The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer behind some of the world’s most ambitious development ventures, including luxury regenerative tourism destinations The Red Sea and AMAALA.
John is leveraging his 38 years of international experience in delivering large scale multi-billion-dollar developments covering every facet of the real estate value chain, including site acquisition, master planning, project structuring, financing, construction and asset management.
The Red Sea has demonstrated significant progress over the last 12 months, with phase one now more than 50 percent complete. Work is on track to welcome the first guests in 2023, when the first hotels will open, with the balance of phase one set to complete by early 2024. Several key assets are already fully operational, including a four-star management hotel, on-site offices, and the largest landscape nursery in the region.
Earlier this year TRSDC established its first joint-venture agreement for the destination with Almutlaq Real Estate Investment Co., a subsidiary of the Al Mutlaq Group, worth SR 1.5 billion. This partnership demonstrates the belief the investment community has in its projects, as well as the wider tourism opportunity in the Kingdom.
At AMAALA, TRSDC recently revealed the iconic designs for its stunning Triple Bay Yacht Club, which it expects will ensure the evolution of the Red Sea coast become an international hub for luxury yachting.
Across both destinations, over 1,250 contracts worth in excess of 30 billion riyals have been awarded – critically, over 70 percent of the total value of these contracts has been awarded to Saudi firms. Various new programs have been launched to upskill and prepare young Saudi talent for jobs of the future, including the 4th annual edition of the Elite Graduate Program.
The Red Sea destination and AMAALA are set to cement Saudi Arabia as a leader in luxury, sustainable tourism.