Glion Institute of Higher Education is launching a new Master of Science in International Hospitality Finance starting January 2013. The 1-year program follows current trends in higher hybrid learning which offers six months of on-campus courses and another six months of online courses. The maximum enrollment for this new program is 30 students for the first intake in January 2013.
The third edition of the Young Hoteliers Summit came to an exciting close in March of this year at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne. Three exhilarating days saw 54 delegates from 19 hospitality schools from across the globe join forces with leaders from the industry, to co-develop actionable proposals for the future of hospitality. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Expedia were the major partners of the event. Next's year Young Hoteliers Summit will be held from March 18th to 20th 2013.
As of September 2012, the brand new Preparatory Year will provide students with an even deeper immersion in all hospitality related activities, setting a new and improved standard in the acquisition of professional competencies.
Scheduled to open in December 2012, The Alpina Gstaad is set in the heart of the Bernese Alps and will offer an intimate and discreet haven for discerning local and international guests in search of an authentic and indulgent Alpine experience. With 56 rooms and suites, numerous possibilities for dining, relaxation and cultural enrichment, this boutique hotel will deliver a new level of distinction, while nurturing the local mountain traditions.
This LipDub took place at the Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (Switzerland) on May 8th 2012. More than 650 students, teachers and staff members were involved. The video was filmed in one shot (8 minutes without any cuts!) We would like to thank all the participants and their strong EHL Spirit!! A special thank you to KevWestProd who shot the video, amazing job!!!
Morand was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, is married and has a ten-year-old son. He takes over from his predecessor Kurt Straub, who is leaving Zurich after eight successful years to take on a new challenge for Hyatt in Mexico City. Swiss-born Morand graduated from the renowned hotel management school in Lausanne and began his career with Hyatt Hotels Corporation in 1990 as General Manager in Casablanca. From 1992 to 1995 he was Hotel Director at Hyatt Regency Istanbul, followed by further responsibilities as Regional Director in Morocco and Rabat.
A prominent new member joins the World Tourism Forum Lucerne: Reto Wittwer, President and CEO of Kempinski Hotels, and seasoned expert, takes over as Chairman of the Advisory Board. A Swiss citizen, Wittwer has more than 30 years’ international experience in hospitality and joins the Board, which consists of 13 experts of the travel, tourism and hotel sector, with immediate effect. The next Forum will be held from April 17 to 19, 2013. As a think-tank, the Forum offers decision-makers from business, government, academia and finance a platform for discussing the strategic challenges facing the tourism industry in the years ahead. It is the only international platform in which leading decision makers and promising young talents have the opportunity to interact as part of a talent management programme.
Dorchester Collection is delighted to announce the appointment ofKlaus Kabelitz as general manager of Le Richemond in Geneva. Reporting directly to Dorchester Collection's chief operating officer, François Delahaye, Kabelitz will be based on property at the company's first Swiss address.
Fabio Masi, head sommelier and restaurant manager at Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva has won the title of Best Sommelier in Switzerland 2012, as the 18th annual competition organized by the Association Suisse des Sommliers Professionnels (ASSP). Born in 1982 in Milan, this young Italian sommelier has already a great international experience : Milan and Florence, Paris and Lyon, London, New York and since November 2007, Geneva, where he is director of the Italian gastronomic restaurant Il Lago at Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues Geneva. He has worked for many Michelin starred restaurants, including Le Cinq at Four Seasons Georges V Paris, Daniel Boulud in New York and the Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, which has the largest collections of wines in Italy at 150,000 bottles. In 2009, Fabio was named Best Sommelier in Italy and was qualified as semi- finalist in the Best Sommelier of the World competition in 2007 and 2010.
Alain Rigazzi has worked in the Group Warwick International Hotels in the past, including the Warwick Seattle Hotel between 1998 and 2003: he has brilliantly repositioned the hotel and accomplished major improvements in hotel’s operations, such as food & beverage. Since, Alain Rigazzi worked for several hotel groups and mainly Mövenpick where he served as General Manager in hotels & resorts in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. On several occasions, he was responsible for openings hotels on 4 & 5 stars segment, notably in Indonesia, Dubai and Turkey. With his many solid experiences, Alain Rigazzi is now responsible for establishing the Hotel Warwick Geneva as a leading 4 star deluxe hotel in one of the best location in the city. Completely renovated, the hotel is strategically located rue de Lausanne, facing the Cornavin station and within walking distance of Lake Geneva and has many assets to attract Swiss and international clients.
For three days, hit-CONSULT Darja Gogunova and Catherine Balcerzak were surrounded by hotel students, professors, and key industry members who were all focused and driven by these key traits. The annual Young Hoteliers Summit (YHS) took place from March 19-21, 2012 in Lausanne Switzerland.
Dorchester Collection is delighted to announce the appointment of Arabella El Barkouki as director of sales and marketing of Le Richemond . With over ten years of experience in the hospitality and hotel industry and as a fluent French speaker, El Barkouki was previously Dorchester Collection's regional sales director for the U.K. Set on the banks of Lake Geneva, Le Richemond joined Dorchester Collection on August 1, 2011. The prestigious 109-room hotel is the company's first third-party management agreement.
The latest hotel performance results from STR Global show that despite a positive trend in the first half of 2011 across the major Swiss markets, the country's hotel industry faced a tougher environment during the second half of the year. Average daily rate (ADR) reached CHF 229.27 (0.1 percent) and occupancy declined to 60.4 percent (-1.94 percent) 12-months to January 2012. The strengthening of the Swiss franc against, notably, the euro, provided additional concern for local hoteliers. ADR in euro-terms increased by 10.8 percent to €187.56, bringing RevPAR to €113.21 (+8.5 percent), making the destination more expensive to its main source markets.
The speakers demonstrated their ability to surprise and inspire the audience of around 100 hospitality professionals. The exciting programme brought inspiration from a wide diversity of disciplines. All the content was curated with key stakeholders of the hospitality industry in mind. "We asked ourselves about trends influencing the future of hospitality and identified interesting ideas from neuroscientists and flavour scientists, from design agencies, storytellers, gamers, anthropologists and innovating engineers".
David Horrigan, PhD, Director, Center of Marketing Excellence, said, "We believe the Global Revenue Management team at Marriott International is unique in their vision, creativity and motivation toward the preparation of students seeking a career in hospitality. We recognize the innovative culture Marriott International has toward higher education's role in preparing future employees for hospitality careers. We appreciate everything the Global Revenue Management Team has done for our students and want to formally recognize this effort."
Swiss hotel association "hotelleriesuisse" recently hosted its second edition of the "Swiss Hotel Film Awards". The initiative started in 2009 and invited producers to create schort movie clips with one single condition: Clips had to be shot inside inside whatever hotel in Switzerland. A total of 75 clips were presented; 105 Swiss hotels presented themselves as a potential location. Below are a few of the award-winning clips. Some of them are in German language.
Coming into its third year, the Young Hoteliers Summit will welcome over 50 delegates from nineteen different International Hospitality schools to participate in the event held at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne between March 19th and 21st.
INTEHL hosted its last round table of 2011, on the 9th December at Ecole hôtelière Lausanne. The theme of the round table was that of "The future of guest facing technology" The session was attended by EHL students and also local hoteliers. The session was moderated by Professor Ian Millar, with the panellists comprising of Jeremy Ward Senior Vice President Kempinski Hotels, Wouter Staal Senior Global Marketing Manager Hotel TV –Philips, Derek Wood Consultant –Derek Wood and associates, Almir Kalender Group IT manager QDHP hotels and Max Rosari CEO Rosari IT services.
Located in 21 destinations within Switzerland in each of the four Swiss language regions, Swiss Deluxe Hotels (SDH) groups 4500 premium rooms and suites, 9200 beds, and represents 40% of the country’s five-star hotels. SDH employs 4500 staff devoted to maintaining Switzerland’s undisputed reputation as a first-class tourist destination. The statistics are impressive—last year, SDH hotels hosted 800,000 overnight stays.
Family businesses generate between 35 and 65% of the Swiss and European GNP. What's more, it is a widespread business structure within the Hospitality industry. In this context, two leading global institutions; EHL (Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne) and IMD (International Institute for Management Development) in management education have developed a new executive programme specifically targeted at family businesses in hospitality