Abu Dhabi Ports Group has partnered with MAG Group Holding to develop the first phase of Marsa Zayed, a beachfront resort and residential community on the Red Sea in Aqaba, Jordan.
The Marsa Zayed project is set to turn a 320-hectare (3.2 million m2) section of Red Sea beachfront into a tourism and business hub and a southern gateway to Jordan’s key attractions, the UNESCO World Heritage Site Petra and the Wadi Rum Protected Area.
MAG Group Holding was selected as the lead developer of Marsa Zayed by AD Ports Group, the integrated trade, transport and logistics group based in Abu Dhabi that is the landowner for the project.
AD Ports Group developed and is operating the Aqaba Cruise Terminal, which opened in January 2023, under an agreement signed with and Jordanian state-run Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) in 2021.
Marsa Zayed is a beachside real estate project collaboration strongly backed by the UAE and Jordanian governments to bolster the Jordanian coastal city’s position as a regional tourism centre and a gateway for travellers visiting the Red Sea.
MAG Group Holding aims to attract investors and oversee the development of Phase 1 of Marsa Zayed, which will span 1.2 kilometres of Red Sea beachfront and include Zayed Riviera, which will house four residential towers, a marina with around 1,260 residential and 117 retail units, a hotel and hotel apartment with a beach club, an Old Souq marketplace with 50 retail shops, the restoration of iconic Aqaba Minaret, a yacht club and marina, and a visitors’ centre.
At the project initiation ceremony in Aqaba, AD Ports Group and MAG Group Holding launched an international campaign to promote the first phase of Marsa Zayed, which the organisers expect will be one of the Middle East’s most popular tourist destinations.