The hospitality and tourism industry is in recovery mode after a two-year Covid-induced pause. But, continues to suffer from want of skilled man-power. This despite the fact that in some markets like India, the inbound tourism has breached pre-Covid levels.

As Markus Venzin, the CEO of EHL Group puts it, there is a need for a paradigm shift in the hospitality industry to adapt to the post-Covid changes. And this is exactly where the EHL Hospitality Business School steps in.

EHL Hospitality Business School — top ranked for ‘Hospitality and Leisure Management’ in the QS World University Rankings — has been turning out industry leaders from its headquarters in Lausanne since 1893.

Founded as Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne in 1893, EHL Hospitality Business School has grown from a small classroom of about 30 students to an international education group with around 4 000 students, across 125 nationalities, 3 campuses in Lausanne, Passugg and Singapore and over 30,000 alumni worldwide.

Placements include top MNCs like Nestlé, Rotschild & Co and L’Oreal; airlines like Swiss Air, and hotel majors like Ritz Carlton, Four Seasons; luxury retailers like Louis Vuitton, Cartier, to name a few.

In general, 50 per cent of the graduates go into the hospitality sector (mainly hotel & restaurant businesses) while the remaining half are thriving in industries such as retail banking (specially the customer facing segment), luxury, real estate, consultancy and other similar sectors.

Human–centric approach

Covid did help in accelerating the digitalisation of learning processes.

However, as Venzin explains, the man-power shortage across some markets are expected to play out for some more years – particularly with hospitality industry professionals also taking up complimenting careers in luxury retail or banking.

“But we are working with governments across the world to find solutions, and what we realise is that human-centric management is the buzzword and a dominant theme post-Covid,” he says.

“Hospitality competencies are highly sought after by other sectors and the hospitality industry needs to remain competitive to continue to attract talent and meet Gen Z’s expectations for purpose, sustainable practices and a decent work-life balance. And as such, EHL has been bringing in such an approach across its campuses,” Venzin adds.

For instance, the physical environment on campus, the way students, faculty and industry professionals interact are designed to encourage human interactions. The facilities across the campus are extended as “experiential classrooms that look at preparing students for a larger role in their respective sectors and developing soft skills”.

Push for Networking

Curricula is designed to encourage connections and exchanges. “Human interaction is also an integral part of the curricula, both in what is taught, and how it’s taught. Frequent group work encourages students to work as part of a team, building their empathy and cultural agility,” Venzin says.

Networking is pushed and practiced with industry professionals and alumni. And there are hands on experience from staff – professors – on how managers need to lead by example, be empathetic and respectful towards others.

“While all these sound obvious, it is actually difficult to practise such soft skills in real life and without the right training,” says one of the students at EHL..

Incubators

EHL Hospitality Business School also has its own incubator - which supports startups or entrepreneurial student projects that relate to tourism, hospitality or food and beverage sectors.

Since 2019, over 250 EHL Hospitality Business School scholarships and loans have been given.

Tuition fee for the Bachelor’s programme of four years at EHL Hospitality Business School is close to 171,000 Swiss Franc, excluding accommodation.

(The writer was in Switzerland at the invitation of EHL Hospitality Business School)

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