Duba-Tabuk (Dhiba Saudi Arabia, Neom City)

Duba (Dhuba/Dhiba) is a small city and a Red Sea port (locode SADHU) in northwestern Saudi Arabia. Duba's population is around 22,000. Duba is the cruise port to Tabuk City (Tabuk Province's capital, with population over 0,9 million) and also serves the newbuild cross-border city NEOM.

The ~USD 500 billion "smart city" NEOM was designed as an economic zone, technology hub, and a major tourist destination. The project was announced in October 2017. In 2018 Egypt announced that it is contributing some land to the project. In January 2019 was established the closed joint-stock company "Neom" that is wholly owned by PIF-Public Investment Fund (Saudi Arabia's wealth fund) with some of the capital provided by foreign investors.

NEOM will be powered exclusively by renewable sources. NEOM's Phase 1 is planned for completion in 2025.

During the Ottoman Empire's rule, Duba was fortified to protect the Egypt-Arabia trade route. The town is part of Saudi Arabia since 1933. Duba is small and has no in-city public transportation as everything is within walking distance from downtown. Tabuk is approx 180 km (110 mi) to the northeast, via Road 80. Al Wajh is approx 160 km (100 mi) to the southeast/via the coastal Road 55M.

The closest to Duba airports are Tabuk Regional (145 km/90 mi), Al Wajh Domestic (150 km/93 mi), Egypt-Sharm El Sheikh International (145 km/90 mi), Egypt-Hurghada International (190 km/116 mi). Buses link Duba with Jeddah and Mecca.

As cargo port, Duba has one quay (with 3x berths/docks) for Ro-Ro/Ro-Pax vessels, two quays (with 4x berths/docks) for breakbulk carriers, one quay (with 2x berths/docks) for drybulk ships, one quay (with 1x berth/dock) for container ships. Duba is the nearest Saudi Arabian port to Egypt (including the Suez Canal).

Port Duba handles mainly dry- and break-bulk cargoes (construction materials, raw materials, machinery), Ro-Ro (vehicle carriers) and Ro-Pax ships (passenger ferries serving the Egypt-Saudi routes), TEU-containerized cargoes. The Port's annual cargo capacity is around 15 million tonnes.

In August-September 2020 (amid the Coronavirus crisis) Saudi Arabia launched domestic luxury Red Sea cruises for Saudis. These voyages were part of promoting the domestic tourism campaign "Break Free", highlighting 10 Saudi destinations. For these domestic leisure voyages was time-chartered Silversea's ultra-luxury ship Silver Spirit (rebranded as "Red Sea Spirit").

In January 2021 was launched the PIF-owned company "Cruise Saudi", with which was officially established the country's cruise travel sector, generating 50,000+ tourism-related local jobs. Cruise Saudi promotes the country on the international market, supports domestic tourism and develops itinerary routes for vacationers to explore the country's most popular cultural destinations.