SCOTTISH hotel management experts have been enlisted to support efforts to stimulate the tourist trade in Liberia as the West African country recovers from a long civil war.
Marketing specialists in Glasgow aim to help a hotel near the capital Monrovia win business after Redefine BDL Hotels won a contract to manage the oceanfront RLJ Kendeja Resort & Villas property.
Redefine BDL Hotels was created in May following the takeover of Glasgow-based BDL Management by South Africa-listed real estate giant Redefine Property Group.
Stewart Campbell, who was managing director at BDL and has the same role in the enlarged group, said the know-how developed in Scotland could play a key role in dealing with the challenges faced by hoteliers in Liberia.
While Liberia offers beautiful surroundings some people may associate the country with images of the bloody conflict that engulfed it from 1989 to 2003.
In 2012 the United Nations set the target of halving the number of its troops in the country to fewer than 4000 by 2015.
The fact operators have to work hard to attract customers and to make sure those that visit want to come back means they need sophisticated marketing and customer service capabilities.
However, Mr Campbell said, such skills are in short supply in Liberia.
Redefine BDL said the four-star RLJ Kendeja Resort is the first of its kind in Liberia. It is owned by America's RLJ Companies investment business,
"Professionalisation in how to attract guests and how to serve guests isn't there, and the back office support you need to attract people and to try to get people to come back," said Mr Campbell.
Redefine BDL hopes to win more contracts in Africa, where the firm sees great potential for business travel and tourism. It manages a hotel in South Africa.
The company sees lots of scope to grow its business in the UK and has ambitions to expand into Europe.
Mr Campbell said the enlarged group plans to retain operations in Govan developed by BDL, where 45 people work. The group has 40 staff in London.
BDL had 48 hotels under management. Redefine BDL has around 60 hotels under management.
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