As the travel recovery gains momentum, JLL expands its Global Tourism & Destination Advisory practice to Africa

JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality Group announced today that it has appointed Bernadine Galliver as Vice President to the Tourism and Destination Advisory practice. Galliver will work alongside Daniel Fenton, Executive Vice President and Global Director of the Tourism and Destination Advisory practice and Wayne Godwin, Head of Hotels & Hospitality Group, Africa in leading the Tourism & Destination Advisory practice in Africa.

JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality Group has an established presence in Africa, having been on the continent since 1992 and advising on more hotel transactions than any other advisor in Africa. JLL’s Global Tourism & Destination Advisory practice has completed over 120 assignments in the US and destinations globally. Most recently, JLL’s Tourism and Destination Advisory practice released a Global Tourism Readiness Index in collaboration with the World Travel and Tourism Council. The expanded offering in Africa will focus on serving regional tourism entities, government ministries, global and regional destination development initiatives and economic development groups on destination strategy, tourism planning and destination development.

“The pandemic has highlighted the importance of tourism for economic and social development in Africa as well as conservation. The continent is blessed with an incredible tourism product and governments need to focus on aligning policy and strategy to see Africa achieve its potential.” Godwin said. “As JLL, we have already consulted to private sector clients on hospitality and tourism investment in 46 African countries, and the opportunity to marry our on-the-ground experience in the region with JLL’s global destination planning expertise is a very exciting one.”

Based in South Africa, Galliver will focus on advising clients in the tourism ecosystem, including public and private entities vested in the sector’s growth.  “Bernadine’s outlook and over 15 years of experience advising clients across Africa will enable our team to continue to provide innovative solutions and meet this growing client demand.” Fenton said.

 “No matter where our clients are in the tourism life cycle or where they fit into the tourism value chain, we specialise in providing solutions that help them to achieve their tourism ambitions”, Galliver said. “Our tourism and destination advisory practice is the perfect complement to JLL’s Hotels and Hospitality business, with investment into infrastructure and real estate often either driven by tourism or required to unlock tourism potential. JLL’s state-of-the-art planning tools put us in the unique position of providing practical solutions as part of a more holistic approach to destination planning”.

Galliver joins JLL having spent the past 13 years at Grant Thornton and BDO, and other specialist tourism consultancies prior to that. She has worked with government ministries/departments and economic development/tourism entities, developers, lenders, tourism and trade associations, hoteliers and communities across the tourism value chain.

Galliver  holds a Master of Science in Agriculture from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She also has qualifications in ecological studies and environmental law.