Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman launched the design of the vision for the “Journey Through Time ” scheme, with the aim of reviving and rehabilitating the main archaeological area in Al-Ula, in order to achieve the goals of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.
The “Journey Through Time” plan consists of 3 main stages. The first stages are scheduled to be completed by the end of 2023. The development strategy, upon completion in 2035, aims to provide 38,000 new job opportunities, in addition to contributing an amount of 120 billion riyals to the Kingdom’s GDP.
The plan provides a distinctive historical map of the civilizations that settled in the various oases of Al-Ula over more than 7000 years of human history, through the participation of its distinguished community in the development process to preserve AlUla’s legacy, and to draw the future by opening new chapters to discover its unexplored history and build a future legacy.
Through this scheme, inspired by the nature and heritage of Al-Ula, five centres will be established extending 20 kilometres from the heart of Al-Ula, along the “Journey through Time” route, and these centres start from the old town centre to the south, passing through the centre of the Dadan Oasis and the Jabal Ikma Oasis. And the Nabatean oasis, up to the ancient city of Hajar in the north.
Within these centres, 15 new cultural facilities will be established, including museums, galleries and tourist attractions, with the addition of more than 5,000 rooms for accommodation and living, as each centre will offer its own mix of living and hospitality options that offer multiple options from hotels and ecotourism resorts to Luxurious lodges and valley farms carved into the mountain rocks.
One of the most prominent projects of the “Journey through Time” scheme is the Kingdoms Institute, which is a global centre for studies of civilizations that have inhabited northwestern Arabia over more than 7,000 years of human history, including the ancient Arab kingdoms of Dadan, Lahyan and Nabateans in the ancient city of Hajar. One of the sites included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
