Joining the world’s first hospitality management school could be the best decision of your life

One in two EHL graduates work in roles outside hospitality. These include marketing, real estate, banking, finance, consulting, retail, luxury goods, IT, multimedia, entertainment, and more.

Being able to move into these many fields – and at the highest levels of some of the world’s leading brands and organisations – requires what’s known as soft skills. Knowing how to use data to understand what customers across many branches in many countries want is a hard skill. Knowing how to convince a board of directors and investors with various agendas to close brick and mortar stores in a region and take all sales online is a soft skill. 

Critical thinking, interacting with others and staying relevant can take you far today and tomorrow. These key soft skills are taught in EHL’s Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management. Any business school can give you technical know-how but EHL makes it a point to make students work in teams in various settings, network with peers and industry professionals within and beyond campus, and join a wide range of student committees to pursue their interests. Often, these will make you feel as if you’re not in a school, but in a Google satellite office and that’s the point. By getting you out of the classroom, you’ll see how business comes to life and pick up unique soft skills that’ll make you the kind of leader people want to work for in the future.

EHL bachelor graduates are masters in many trades

EHL’s bachelor’s degree lives up to its award-winning status. Your first year starts in Switzerland, with hands-on training in hotel and restaurant operations – including the privilege of practicing in Berceau des Sens, EHL’s very own Michelin-starred fine-dining restaurant.

This Preparatory Year – “Année Préparatoire” in French – sets the right tone for the degree’s four-year journey. It’s filled with opportunities to gain key soft skills, such as adaptability,  flexibility, and understanding of what it means to be service-oriented, although those with relevant work or academic experience can opt for direct entry into Year One.

Learning and training with the best

The next three years build on this through subjects such as financial accounting, economics, revenue management, marketing, business communication, hospitality management, service design, etc. A foreign language module ensures you can use everything you’ve learned with EHL for careers in many countries: your home country, English-speaking countries and in another country that speaks your third language.

Two internships put these theories into action. The first is in an operational role in the second semester of the Preparatory Year and the second is in an administrative role (such as marketing, sales, HR, or revenue management) in your fourth semester. 

More people and organisations care about how their actions are impacting the planet today. We want to live, work, travel and do business more sustainably and we want products and services that make this possible.

It’s important that you not only have the skills and knowledge that will prepare you for this growing reality, but get you jobs with the ability to progress in your career for the next few decades too.

“Green skills” – which enable the environmental sustainability of economic activities – should be one of them. They are crucial in a world dealing with a climate crisis – and today’s jobs are evolving to tackle the defining issue of our era. They’re increasingly dealing with new rules, practices and technologies in the global green transition. So don’t think jobs that aren’t traditionally thought of as green — such as marketing managers, retail owners and consumer analysts – wouldn’t need to care about the planet and its people much. They will – and even as much as those who directly work to reduce pollution, save endangered species and find renewable sources of energy. 

In this, the Bachelor in International Hospitality Management prepares students well through one of its offered final year specialisations in Innovation Management & Sustainable Growth Strategies. It gives students a 360-degree understanding of the green economy. You’ll not only learn how to thrive in a world where life and work are centred around sustainable development, but also how to use data and cross-cultural awareness to succeed in a digital and increasingly connected world.

Skills for the future

Hear from the students and graduates