Lausanne | Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) and Hospitality Services Plus, a Swisscom subsidiary, today announced the conclusion of a partnership agreement. Swisscom and EHL intend to jointly develop further knowledge in the hospitality area and to facilitate understanding of technology’s use among industry decision-makers. Joint research projects will generate ongoing guest insight, thus contributing to Swisscom’s product innovation while granting EHL students international industry exposure.

In view of their competencies, their recognition in their respective communities and their roots, Swisscom and Swiss hotel school EHL appear to be a natural fit. Through its Geneva-based subsidiary Hospitality Services Plus, Swisscom has served the hotelier community since 2002 to position itself as its leading technology partner, while EHL’s Institute for Technology and Entrepreneurship (EHLITE) aims to be the leading think tank for creativity and innovation management in the hospitality industry.

“Technology plays an increasingly critical role in the hospitality industry, be it in achieving greater productivity and profitability or in maximizing guest satisfaction“, says Ruud Reuland, General Manager of Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne. “Being the very institution training and forming the future leaders of the hospitality industry, we count on Swisscom to demonstrate and communicate the full potential of today’s and tomorrow’s technologies. In particular, we welcome the possibility to engage our students in regular research projects, which provides them with valuable hands-on experience in the international hospitality market.”

“Beyond our geographical ties and our appreciation of technology, Swisscom shares with EHL a clear guest focus and a belief in Swiss service standards”, says Christian Petit, CEO of Swisscom’s Hospitality Services. “This partnership will allow Swisscom to cultivate its guest intimacy and to strengthen its profile as an incubator of new guestroom technologies. Moreover, EHL will help us to fully take on the hotelier perspective. The better we understand hoteliers in their economic and operational context, the better we will be able to serve them.”

The partnership agreement foresees that Swisscom and EHL will conduct joint research, hold common industry round-tables and maintain an ongoing know-how exchange with regards to technology in hospitality matters. In addition, EHL will train Swisscom employees in hotel management and operations. In the past, Swisscom and EHL already conducted several joint research projects leading, among others, to the launch of Swisscom’s “Guestroom 2.0” Internet access service, which is presently being rolled out across the company’s international footprint.