Skift Travel News Blog

Saudi Arabia’s tourism development fund said it would help invest in the building of lifestyle hotels in the kingdom through a new hotel investment fund worth $400 million (1.5 billion Saudi riyals) that Al Rajhi Capital will manage.

Ennismore, a lifestyle hospitality joint venture with Accor, will pinpoint locations, provide financing options, and lead the development and operation of these projects, which will create about 2,000 hotel rooms.

Ennismore didn’t specify which of its 14 brands — which includes 25hours, The Hoxton, Delano, Gleneagles, Mama Shelter, Mondrian, Morgans Originals, and 21c Museum Hotel — will appear in the kingdom.

Saudi’s tourism development fund (TDF), created in 2020, has $4 billion to drive tourism growth in the kingdom.

Ennismore was founded by co-CEO Sharan Pasricha, who will be speaking at Skift Global Forum in New York.

The World Economic Forum is back with its travel competitiveness research, rebranded now as Travel & Tourism Development Index 2021, with a new focus on resiliency and sustainable future, as is to be expected in this post-pandemic ever-present climate emergency world. As to be expected,  high-income economies and countries in the Europe and Eurasia (Europe) and Asia-Pacific regions tend to lead the overall index in results.

Among the largest differentiators between index leaders and laggards are: the distribution and promotion of natural, cultural and non-leisure assets and activities; the availability of quality transport and tourist service infrastructure; the degree of international openness; and favorable factors such as (increasingly important) tech readiness and health and hygiene, the report lays out in detail.

Some more interesting charts of findings from the report: