Saudi Arabia’s ambitious plan to build the world’s first large-scale outdoor ski resort in the desert has been pushed back again, with reports indicating Trojena will receive no new investment until after 2030 as developer NEOM shifts its focus toward industrial infrastructure, logistics, and artificial intelligence projects.
The reported delay marks another major setback for Trojena, which was unveiled in 2022 as the centerpiece of Saudi Arabia’s mountain tourism ambitions. The project was originally envisioned as a year-round alpine destination featuring more than 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) of ski runs, luxury hotels, an artificial freshwater lake, mountain villages, and outdoor recreation—all in the mountains of northwest Saudi Arabia.
According to Semafor, NEOM has postponed further investment in Trojena, The Line, and the MAGNA Red Sea tourism developments until at least after 2030 following a strategic review led by newly appointed CEO Aiman Al-Mudaifer. Instead, Saudi Arabia is redirecting billions of dollars toward Oxagon, NEOM’s industrial city on the Red Sea coast, where investment is being focused on ports, logistics infrastructure, utilities, manufacturing, and AI-ready data centers. Saudi Arabia is seemingly shifting priorities as it prepares for Expo 2030, the 2034 FIFA World Cup, and increasing investment in defence and technology while seeking projects capable of generating economic returns more quickly than large-scale tourism developments.
The latest reports follow a series of warning signs reported earlier this year. In March, SnowBrains reported that two major Trojena construction contracts had been terminated, including Webuild’s reported $4.7 billion contract to construct three dams and Trojena’s signature artificial lake, along with structural steel contracts awarded to Malaysia’s Eversendai. Since then, NEOM has also reportedly canceled additional agreements, including a planned high-speed railway contract with Webuild and contracts involving Hyundai Engineering & Construction, further illustrating the scale of the project’s retrenchment.
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What initially appeared to be isolated contract cancellations now appears to be part of a much broader restructuring across NEOM and the financial scale of the pullback is substantial. According to Semafor, Saudi authorities expect to spend approximately 60 billion Saudi riyals ($16 billion) between 2026 and 2030 simply terminating long-term construction contracts across NEOM. The anticipated cancellation costs alone reportedly equal more than one-third of Saudi Arabia’s projected 2026 budget deficit.
Saudi Arabia has already invested an estimated $64 billion into NEOM. Despite that spending, much of the development remains unfinished outside portions of Oxagon, where an $8.4 billion green hydrogen project is nearing completion and the port has become increasingly important as a regional logistics hub.
The strategic review has also dramatically reduced expectations for the project itself. When NEOM was first announced, planners envisioned a city of 1.5 million residents by 2030. That target was later reduced to 300,000, and is now reportedly up to 100,000 residents by the end of the decade. The Line itself is also reportedly being redesigned in an effort to reduce construction costs before work eventually resumes.
Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Al-Jadaan previously acknowledged that the kingdom is prepared to adjust its ambitions if necessary.
“If we announce something and we need to adjust it, accelerate it and make it a priority more than others, or defer or cancel it, we will without blinking,” Al-Jadaan said last year.
Several international hotel brands continue to list Trojena developments despite the delayed timeline. Marriott International has announced plans for both a 236-room W Hotel and a 500-room JW Marriott, while Minor Hotels continues to advertise its planned Anantara Trojena Resort. However, Anantara’s own website now lists the resort opening in 2030, several years later than originally anticipated.
Whether those timelines remain realistic will likely depend on when large-scale construction resumes.
Trojena’s challenges did not begin with the latest funding pause. The resort was originally awarded the 2029 Asian Winter Games, becoming the first desert destination selected to host a major international winter sporting event. Earlier this year, however, Saudi Arabia withdrew from hosting the Games, and the Olympic Council of Asia awarded them to Almaty, Kazakhstan instead. In hindsight, losing the Games now appears to have been the first clear indication that Trojena’s original construction schedule was no longer achievable.
Trojena remains one of the most ambitious and controversial ski resort concepts ever proposed, promising skiing, snowboarding, hiking, mountain biking, luxury tourism, and outdoor recreation in one of the hottest regions on Earth. But after contract cancellations, postponed investment, shrinking development targets, and a broader shift away from tourism megaprojects, its future has become increasingly uncertain.
Importantly, Saudi officials have not canceled Trojena outright. Instead, the project has effectively been placed on hold while NEOM focuses on developments viewed as more immediately practical and economically productive. Whether skiing eventually arrives in the Saudi desert, or whether Trojena returns in a dramatically different form after 2030, remains to be seen.
