(TC) A £4,000,000,000 floating theme park is Saudi Arabia’s latest bonkers project author image Steve Charnock

When the oil-rich countries of the Middle East announce a project designed to tempt tourists and visitors, they tend to do so with plenty of ambition.

Anyone who’s been to Dubai, Abu Dhabi or the Qatar World Cup will know that.

So when Saudi Arabia announced a wildly ambitious plan to create the world’s most unique tourist attraction, no one scoffed. And, we have to say, it looks like it’s going to be quite something.

Here’s the basic pitch: it’s going to be a giant floating theme park. It’s also going to be so much more than that, though. The scale of ‘The Rig’ is genuinely quite mind-blowing.

The project’s catchy name is quite easily explained; The Rig is being built on an old oil rig off Saudi Arabia’s eastern coast, around 25 miles from the shoreline, not far from Al Juraid Island and the Berri oilfield.

Part of the remit of the project is to ‘celebrate the legacy and heritage of Saudi Arabia’s long oil and gas history’, but it seems likely that’s not what will attract guests. They’ll come for the fun, glamour, glitz and magnitude of The Rig.

So, then. Onto those all important numbers. To give you a sense of scale.

There’s set to be 1.6 million square feet of space, three hotels, 800 rooms, 11 restaurants, 70 different activities, an estimated 10,000 guests per day, a marina with room for 50 boats, and one helipad. Oh, and a budget in excess of $5 billion (£4 billion).

One of the biggest and most thrilling rollercoasters in the world appears to be central to The Rig. As well as that, a sizable adventure and extreme sports park will also be built.

The giant theme park hopes to attract up to 10,000 guests each and every day that it’s open (Picture: Public Investment Fund)
Along with a theatre and a multifunctional arena, the theme park will also have a diving facility, an e-sports centre and a range of aquatic activities.

The park will only be accessible for visitors by cruise ship, ferry or plane. Or, for those feeling super fancy – by helicopter. So think of it kind of like Jurassic Park. Hopefully sans killer dinosaurs.