Abdellah Essonni is a passionate hospitality specialist with over 30 years of international experience spanning four continents and encompassing the industry’s various facets from operations to development and asset management.

Abdellah joined the Public Investment Fund in July of 2022 as Chief Executive Officer of one of the fund’s subsidiaries (soon to be announced). Prior to that, he was Chief Hospitality Officer at Maad International for close to six years during which he delivered, among other assets, Makkah’s single largest upper scale hospitality complex with 4,500 rooms and suites under IHG’s newly introduced brand, voco.

Before Maad, Abdellah spent over five years as CEO of Abjar Hotels International, a subsidiary of Almulla Group, which owns and operates a dozen managed and franchised hotels in Dubai under renowned global brands such as Ritz Carlton, Crowne Plaza and Sheraton. Prior to that, he was Managing Director at Actif Invest, a Casablanca-based hospitality investment fund with development and asset management mandates across Morocco. Before Actif Invest, he was head of hospitality at Sama Dubai, a government owned master developer.

During the first two decades of his career, Abdellah has held several executive positions of increasing responsibility with major operators such as Hyatt, Four Seasons, Jumeirah and Kempinski.

Abdellah graduated in tourism and hospitality management from Institut Supérieur de Tourisme in Tangier, Morocco and completed an executive development program at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.

Abdellah is a regular key speaker at leading hotel investment conferences and a member of several advisory boards.