Saudi Arabia’s hosting of the 2029 Asian Winter Games, originally scheduled to take place in Trojena within the Neom development, has been postponed indefinitely, according to a joint statement issued by the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee (SOPC) and the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).
The statement, released on 24 January 2026, confirmed that the Games will be held at a “later date to be announced in due course”, with no revised timeline provided. Instead, organisers outlined a new framework under which Saudi Arabia will host a series of standalone winter sports events in the coming years to develop athletes, officials and technical capabilities ahead of future continental competitions.
The 2029 Asian Winter Games were set to be the 10th edition of the event and would have marked the first time the Games were staged in the Middle East.
No official explanation, but infrastructure timelines under scrutiny
Neither SOPC nor OCA cited a specific reason for the postponement. However, reporting by international outlets including Reuters, AP News and The Straits Times has pointed to construction delays and evolving timelines at Trojena and across the wider Neom project as contributing factors.
Trojena — envisioned as a year-round mountain destination with outdoor skiing and winter sports — remains under active construction. Neom itself, a flagship pillar of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 strategy, has undergone significant recalibration over the past 18 months, with several components scaled back or re-phased to align ambition with delivery capacity.
One of the most notable adjustments has been to The Line, Neom’s originally announced 170-kilometre linear city. International reporting has confirmed that the initial build-out has been massively reduced, with early phases now focusing on a much shorter inhabited section rather than the full original vision. A number of other projects in Neom that had been announced in 2023 and 24 are now apparently “off the drawing board”.
This shift reflects a broader pattern: Saudi Arabia has not abandoned its mega-projects, but is sequencing them more cautiously, prioritising deliverability, infrastructure readiness and long-term sustainability over headline timelines.
Sindalah: soft opening, but no public launch yet
Another Neom component often cited in travel and lifestyle coverage is Sindalah Island, the luxury yachting and leisure destination that held a soft opening in October 2024.
As of early 2026, Sindalah has not yet opened to the general public, despite earlier expectations. Industry sources now indicate that Sindalah is being taken “under the wing” of Red Sea Global, the developer behind The Red Sea and Amaala, suggesting a strategic consolidation of ultra-luxury coastal and island destinations under a single, experienced operator.
For high-end travel advisors, this distinction matters: a “soft opening” does not equate to commercial readiness, and access, services and guest experience remain limited until a formal public launch is confirmed.
A strategic pivot rather than a retreat
The joint SOPC–OCA statement framed the Asian Winter Games postponement not as a cancellation, but as a re-sequencing. Planned standalone winter sports competitions in Saudi Arabia are intended to:
- Promote winter sports across the region
- Build athlete and officiating pipelines
- Test infrastructure incrementally
- Support broader regional participation
Saudi Arabia reaffirmed its commitment to winter sports, athlete development and international-standard competition as part of its wider national development agenda.
Why reliable information matters for the travel industry
For high-end travel advisors, destination specialists and luxury tour operators, Saudi Arabia remains one of the most dynamic — and complex — markets in the world.
At the same time, the pace and scale of announcements around Vision 2030 projects have made it increasingly difficult to distinguish between:
- projects under construction,
- projects in phased development,
- projects at concept stage,
- and destinations genuinely open to travellers today.
The postponement of the Asian Winter Games, the recalibration of THE LINE, and the delayed public opening of Sindalah all underline a key reality: Saudi Arabia is evolving in real time, and timelines are fluid.
sa-fe.org: committed to clarity, not hype
At sa-fe.org, our mission is to provide accurate, grounded and verified information for professionals working at the sharp end of destination planning.
We believe:
- optimism must be balanced with realism,
- ambition must be matched by operational readiness,
- and travel advisors deserve clear signals, not promotional noise.
As Saudi Arabia continues to adjust and refine its development roadmap, sa-fe.org remains committed to tracking what is actually happening on the ground, drawing on reliable sources, official statements and industry intelligence — so our readers can make informed decisions with confidence.
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Read also: Saudi Arabia welcomes 122 million tourists in 2025 as spending reaches $80 billion
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Photo top of page: Artist’s impression of Trojena (part of the Neom project)
