Niall Gibbons, former CEO of Tourism Ireland, has been hired by Neom Tourism, an agency established by Mohammed bin Salman, crown prince of Saudi Arabia, to promote a new smart city on the Red Sea coast. The construction of this desert metropolis, which is set to feature a ski resort, could displace some 20,000 al-Huwaitat tribespeople. The tribespeople have alleged harassment and arrests by Saudi forces when they refuse to move and have requested intervention by the United Nations. Gibbons is the second Irish businessman to take up a position in Saudi Arabia in the past month, following Peter Bellew, the former Ryanair executive, becoming chief operating officer of Riyadh Air, Saudi’s new national carrier.