The north could be in line for a Far East tourist boom after a Chinese travel company revealed plans to break into the Scottish hospitality market.
The Spean Bridge Hotel in the shadow of Ben Nevis has been taken over by Omega Travel, an agency and tour operator specialising in bringing Oriental visitors to the UK.
The move was welcomed by community and business leaders last night – with one tourism chief saying the fast-growing Chinese market offered “huge potential” to the Highlands.
Omega has organised holiday tours in Scotland for a number of years but is now moving into the hotel business.
The Lochaber venue is its second acquisition, following the purchase of the Watermill Hotel in Paisley in October last year. The company is also eyeing hotel in Perthshire.
New manager Paul Nzoka pledged the Spean Bridge Hotel would remain open to the public, alongside its Chinese guests.
He said the company planned to spend about £300,000 on renovations, including a refurbishment of its world famous Commando Bar.
And he promised all the existing staff would be kept on following the buy-out.
Mr Nzoka said: “We’ve chosen Spean Bridge because it’s a nice place, with the potential for much greater further growth.
“We specialise in bringing Chinese tourists on tours and this is an area already popular for these trips.
“We’re going to be doing quite a lot of work renovating the hotel. We plan to spend around £300,000 on refurbishment in the coming months.”
He was also keen to allay fears that residents would lose access to their local watering hole.
“We will continue with the normal service to other guests with the addition of the coaches coming in,” he said.
“It should be a very positive move and we are looking forward to working with the village. We feel that we have a lot to offer the area.”
Yesterday, the new management team took charge of the 21-bedroom venue – which also boasts a number of chalets in its grounds – and immediately started laying long-term plans.
Omega believes it will be able to cater for two coach trips each day, meaning potentially hundreds of extra tourists in Spean Bridge, the Lochaber area and beyond.
The most recent figures published by VisitScotland suggest Chinese visitors spend three times more than the average tourist.
The national tourism agency also believes the number of Chinese tourists coming to the UK could treble by 2021.
Lochaber Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Leslie Benfield, said: “With the Chinese travel market being the fifth largest market in the world in terms of international travel, Lochaber Chamber of Commerce is delighted to welcome Omega Travel, which caters to the Chinese market, to increase Lochaber’s share of this market.
“We hope that as well as operating the Spean Bridge Hotel, Omega Travel will utilise its travel agent capacity to bring regular coach parties of Chinese citizens into the area.”
Councillor Bill Clark, who represents Spean Bridge on Highland Council, said: “This sounds like great news.
“Anybody, wherever they come from in the world, is welcome if they want to invest in Scotland, the Highlands and Lochaber.
“Tourism is so important and anything that brings people and money into the area is to be encouraged and welcomed in my book.”
Scott Armstrong, regional director for VisitScotland, said: “There is no doubt that the Chinese market represents huge potential for tourism in the Highlands.
“Our research has shown that visitors from China love our culture, our whisky, our golf courses, our stunning scenery and, of course, our warm Scottish welcome.”
The hotel’s Commando Bar is named after the nearby Commando Memorial, which was dedicated to the World War II Royal Marines who trained in the area around Spean Bridge.
The venue also has its own small museum dedicated to the Commandos.