EHL Student Simone Hess Wins Prestigious « Hyatt Student Prize »

The Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) is very proud to announce that Simone Hess, a student in the Master programme at EHL, has won the prestigious Hyatt Student Prize. Her prize, a one-of-a-kind creation by Baccarat, was presented to her on 20 April 2010 by Gebhard Rainer, Managing Director of Hyatt Hotels & Resorts (Europe Africa Middle East) at the EHL campus. In all there are 13 schools in Europe who are specialised in Hotel Management and that have been selected to compete in this competition. Competitors must be at least 21 years-old, hold a Master’s degree and speak fluent English.

Simone Hess, a Swiss student, is 29 years-old and is following the Master programme at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne. She has won the Hyatt Student Prize while competing against schools like ESHOTEL Paris, the Ecole de Savignac, ESSEC Hospitality, the Institut Paul Bocuse, Vatel International, the « Centro Superior de Turismo y de Hosteleria de Galicia », the Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, the « International University of Applied Sciences Bad Honnef » – Bonn, the Ecole de Glion Institut de Hautes Etudes Suisse and Oxford Brookes participated in this competition.

« The aim of the Hyatt Student Prize is to reward the most talented student in our industry and provide them with the opportunity to meet the directors of a large hotel group. We also hope to generate an echo in the wider public, thus making our industry more attractive to young people», said Gebhard Rainer, Managing Director of Hyatt Hotels & Resorts Europe Africa Middle East.

Simone has not only carried off a one-of-a-kind trophy, a creation by Baccarat, the fine crystal makers, but she also won a business-class air ticket to visit Chicago where Hyatt Hotels & Resorts have their main headquarters. Simone went there for a week at the beginning of April and will also be spending a week at the heart of the Hyatt division for Europe, Africa and the Middle East based in Zürich. Finally, Simone will spend seven days in Paris with the GMs of the Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme, Hyatt Regency Paris-Madeleine and Hyatt Regency Paris-CDG where she will also have the pleasure of staying at these hotels. “It is a fantastic opportunity for me to have the privilege of meeting leaders of this calibre who have the experience and vision to counsel me so that I may attain what has always been my dream: to one day become the General Manager of a hotel », declared Ms Hess.

EHL is delighted about this prize and the excellent level of teaching in its Master Programme that will celebrate 10 years of existence next year.