signed an MOU with Riyadh ’ s Tourism Development Fund ( TDF ) to explore the establishment of a US $ 400 million fund that would bring Ennismore ’ s lifestyle brands to at least 12 destinations in The Kingdom .
TDF would identify locations and provide financing options for projects throughout the Kingdom , while Ennismore would lead programming , design and operations for an estimated 2,000 keys .
“ The deal is very much on track ,” Bhushan confirms . “ Investors are very keen to participate . We are offering something which is quite different with our unique set of brands , and it has really caught the eye of the local investor market . Tourism Development Fund wants to do this deal because they really believe with a young population in Saudi that these brands are the way to go , particularly as they try to develop a domestic tourism infrastructure , as well .”
In total , Ennismore , as well as other lifestyle and entertainment businesses , account for about onequarter of Accor ’ s pipeline , according to Bhushan . Ennismore continues to leverage Accor ’ s scale in sales , distribution and loyalty , as well as its 150-plus developers all over the world looking after new projects .
“ Anywhere where scale is applicable , we leverage Accor .”
As for managing in a unique role as a co-CEO with Pasricha , Bhushan says they have been friends for much longer than they have been co-workers , and they make all key decisions together . “ Sharan is an amazing visionary when it comes to product , brand and innovation . So , he spends a lot of his time and effort focusing on everything that the customer is touching and feeling ,” Bhushan says . “ I focus a lot on running the day-to-day operations , the development and financials . We complement each other perfectly .”
On the performance side , Ennismore has simply been focused on driving its business and Bhushan says it has been outperforming the market . “ We ’ re trying to focus on delivering the right experience , and our trajectory for recovery has been quicker than the market average … Frankly , we have just been trying to run the best possible business we can , and that ’ s gone down well with our owners … Last year was the litmus test and we came out of it as a healthy , profitable business that is growing rapidly .”