THE hotel industry in Scotland is experiencing a major upswing in confidence, with its success during 2014's Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup coinciding with renewed enthusiasm from investors eager to back the development of new properties.

The optimistic outlook was delivered by Steve Cassidy, the Scot who holds the role of vice president for UK and Ireland for Hilton Worldwide, the world's biggest hotel company by room numbers.

Mr Cassidy, who spent nearly 20 years working for British Airways before joining Hilton, said Scotland is "in the sights of investors in a way it hasn't been for quite while" following the high-profile events of 2014.

He said: "I think a strong indicator of confidence is the fact that investors want to come back into the regional UK market, particularly Scotland.

"Clearly, 2014 was an enormously successful year. The events business was strong with the Commonwealth Games and Ryder Cup, but I think there is a lot of optimism that the boost is sustainable. I think Scotland has really put itself on the global map as a destination country - it's really enhanced its reputation."

And in spite of concerns for Aberdeen following the oil price collapse, which has led led major operators to slash hundreds of jobs, Mr Cassidy is convinced the city can ride out the current storm.

He said: "Its success in oil exploration and the like [means] there's a huge amount of interest from developers in building hotels in Aberdeen and for that matter the whole of Scotland.

"Having come through such a period of prosperity recently, although not immune to current market conditions, cities like Aberdeen are resilient."

Mr Cassidy's upbeat assessment is underlined by a series of major hotel deals announced in Scotland in recent weeks. Veteran hotelier Peter Taylor sold his Town House Hotel Company, which included Glasgow's Blythswood Square and The Bonham in Edinburgh, in a multi-million pound deal in January. This came shortly before The Radisson Blu on Edinburgh's Royal Mile was sold to a German investment firm from an asking price of £59 million. Edinburgh-based Apex Hotels also announced it was investing £10.5m to acquire and revamp the former Mark's Hotel on Glasgow's Bath Street.

Hilton, which operates various brands for property owners, is also at the forefront of the investment drive.

Mr Cassidy is currently involved in developing two new hotels in Scotland that will be run under the Hampton by Hilton brand. One will open this year on West Campbell Street in Glasgow city centre, while planning permission has just been secured for a Hampton hotel in Dundee.

Work on the 105-bedroom Hampton, which is being developed in two former office blocks, is due to start early next year, and scheduled to open in 2016.

It is the latest major hotel development planned for the city, currently in the midst of a £1bn waterfront regeneration programme, and follows the launch of a Malmaison hotel last year.

Hampton by Hilton is the latest brand to be introduced to Scotland by the hotel giant, joining formats such as Garden Inn and Doubletree.

Further brands are expected to reach these stores too. Mr Cassidy noted there are 12 Hilton brands in operation in the US, the most recent being "lifestyle" offer Canopy by Hilton and The Curio Collection. Curio allows owners to retain the individual identity while enjoying the "commercial benefits" of joining the Hilton Worldwide brand family.

Mr Cassidy, who believes Hilton is more active in brand development than any other hotel operator, said the choice of a range of brands is beneficial to investors and developers.

However investment by the company is not confined to concept development. Harnessing the latest digital technology is a key priority, and just recently the company launched a new service that allows Hilton HHonors guests to check in digitally and select specific rooms when booking accommodation via an app. The technology is now live across 4100 hotels trading under 11 brands around the world.

Another area of focus for the Hilton business in the UK and Ireland is accommodating the growing number of Chinese tourists to destinations across Europe.

Mr Cassidy declared that Hilton has taken a lead in this area under its Huanying, or China Welcome, programme under which it ensures hotels popular with Chinese visitors have at least one Mandarin speaker. Such hotels also offer Chinese foods and television to make guests' stay as comfortable as possible.

But Mr Cassidy admits the industry needs to do more. "From a more practical perspective, we've all got to look at any obstacles that we put up to travellers coming to these shores," he said. "Access to visas in a simple smooth easy fashion is key, particularly for travellers coming from countries like China.

"We're up against the European environment where they can buy with one visa access to 26 countries, so we have to ensure that our visa processes are as efficient and China friendly as they possibly can be."

Mr Cassidy concedes the rate of VAT applied to the tourism and hospitality industry in the UK compared with the rate in other European countries does limit the sector's competitiveness here.

But the single biggest focus for the Hilton business, Mr Cassidy said, is working with government on the skills, training and development agenda.

"This is an industry that is creating a huge number of jobs," he said. "In fact, nearly 30 per cent of all new jobs created since 2012 have been in the hospitality and tourism sector. We reckon as an industry between now and 2015 we could create upwards of 200,000 new positions.

"In order to fill those positions, we need to attract talent. We believe that there is a particular opportunity to bring young people into those positions in the hospitality sector, and an opportunity to give them a career through investing in their skills, development and training."