Bernadine Galliver joins JLL’s Hotels & Hospitality group in South Africa as Vice President, Tourism & Destination Advisory

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

US: Bernadine Galliver has been named Vice President of JLL's Hotels and Hospitality Group's Tourism and Destination Advisory practise.

Galliver will lead the Tourism & Destination Advisory practise in Africa alongside Daniel Fenton, Executive Vice President and Global Director of the Tourism and Destination Advisory practise, and Wayne Godwin, Head of Hotels & Hospitality Group, Africa.

JLL's Hotels and Hospitality Group has a long history in Africa, having been present since 1992 and advising on more hotel transactions than any other advisor.

JLL's Global Tourism & Destination Advisory practise has completed over 120 assignments in the United States and other countries. In collaboration with the World Travel and Tourism Council, JLL's Tourism and Destination Advisory practise recently released a Global Tourism Readiness Index.

In Africa, the expanded offering will concentrate 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.”

Galliver will be based in South Africa and will advise clients in the tourism ecosystem, including public and private entities interested 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 after 13 years at Grant Thornton and BDO, as well as other specialist tourism consultancies. She has collaborated with government ministries/departments, economic development/tourism entities, developers, lenders, tourism and trade associations, hoteliers, and communities from start to finish along the tourism value chain.

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