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Tell us more about this new collaboration? What served as a foundation for this collaboration?
Sommet Education has always been driven by the principle of being an active participant in the change the hospitality education can bring to the industry. Now more than ever, the leading education group is keen on being an actor and not a spectator in the process of rebuilding the industry and kickstarting its recovery efforts. To achieve this goal, the choice of the partner has been obvious as Sommet Education strongly supports United Nations World Tourism Organisation’s (UNWTO) objective to strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem and boost innovation in the tourism sector.
Having chosen a partner that also is driven by actions and advocates tourism that contributes to economic growth, inclusive development and environmental sustainability, and in addition offers leadership and support to the sector to expand its knowledge and tourism policies throughout the world, Sommet Education is keen on jointly rebuilding the industry.
Tell us in detail about the UNWTO Hospitality Challenge? How will it benefit the hospitality community?
With the COVID-19 hitting one of the world’s largest economic sectors, the unprecedented crisis has lead to an opportunity for the hospitality industry to reinvent itself and grow back better and stronger. This unexpected opportunity will allow to pave the way to a more sustainable, innovative and balanced tourism with Hospitality being one of its driving forces.
The UNWTO Hospitality Challenge that has been launched with the support of Sommet Education will enable for creative and new ideas to be put forward by the innovators and entrepreneurs of today in order to participate in the recovery and build the hospitality sector of tomorrow.
The newly launched challenge will not only allow to generate new solutions for the future but will also award 30 best projects submitted by career switchers, entrepreneurs and start-uppers with scholarships through fully sponsored dedicated education programmes in Sommet Education managed hospitality schools in Europe.
The competition will focus on four different categories:
• Luxury travels, goods and services
• Hotels and hotel related operations: small to medium sized properties, family businesses
• Food and Beverage: restaurants, catering, delivery services and retail
• Smart Real Estate: small to medium sized properties and family businesses
This crisis is the undesired sparkle that will help us reconcile visions of the world that have been too long opposed. We believe education is the foundation of a more hospitable world. Providing scholarships is a way to provide people with skills to support their vision and revamp our hospitality model.
The Hospitality Challenge is open to anyone, including Sommet Education Institution students, alumni and employees, and is also a way to promote entrepreneurship, innovation and diversity in the hospitality sector with the aim of contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Tell us in detail about the judging process. What are the various criteria on basis of which the participants would be adjudged?
In order to evaluate all the project submissions a specially designed Selection Committee composed of an international network of investors, entrepreneurs and experts from UNWTO Member States and UNWTO Affiliate Members, as well as representants of Sommet Education Group will be created. This Committee will select the 30 finalists based on various criteria including the degree of disruptiveness, implementation and maturity, as well as viability, scalability, sustainability, and the potential to attract the interest of investors.
The involvement of various experts for the challenge demonstrates how well the public and private sectors are able cooperate in order to support the hospitality kickstart recovery efforts. More importantly, the cooperation between both sectors greatly contributes to the achievement of wider UN objectives.
Tell us in detail about the scholarship that will be offered to the winners. What are the various programmes that will be offered under the scholarship? How will it benefit them?
All 30 finalists will be eligible for a full scholarship comprising the tuition fees and full room and board in Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland and London, Les Roches Crans-Montana in Switzerland, Les Roches Marbella in Spain or École Ducasse in France.
The Institution and its campus shall be determined and attributed to the best matching study program in Hospitality and Culinary and Pastry Arts Management for Bachelors, Masters and MBAs degrees. A total of 15 different study programs will be available admitting two finalists per program.
After the finalists will be announced in October 2020, they shall start their studies in March 2021. Not only the scholarships will provide the finalists with the academic and practical knowledge they may require for their projects, but more importantly, the top three finalists will also be granted seed money to kickstart their projects funded by Eurazeo, leading global investment group from which Sommet Education is a portfolio Company.
What are the new courses introduced by your institutions to prep up future hoteliers for post-COVID world?
In response to the challenges the young professionals may face due to the outbreak of the pandemic, Glion Institute of Higher Education and Les Roches have both made accessible their online courses in “Hotel Market Analysis and Valuation”, “Hotel Revenue Management”, “Excellence in Spa Operations” and “Maximizing Spa Profitability: Financial Planning for Spa and Wellness Centers” to all of their students for free.
The courses are all designed to meet specific industry needs and will allow students to obtain 4 professional certificates in addition to their academic degree. Those certificates give students access to the latest insight from industry research, as well as case studies and video content and will be a great asset for their future career.
The courses have already proven very successful with more than 5500 students already registered from more than 90 countries worldwide. Moreover, Sommet Education has created an exceptional new series of live online classes entitled “Leading Hospitality Through Turbulent Times”. From the initial impacts of the crisis and the lessons to be learned from past cycles, to a potential recovery and what hospitality is likely to look like post-COVID-19, students can gain a thorough understanding of how Hospitality industry is being affected by the crisis while learning from experts on ways to face up to it in the most efficient way possible.
Given that, hotel professionals need to be given special training to deal with things that will change on reopening. Have you launched any such training programmes?
In addition to the online courses and series that have been specially designed for the future emerging needs of the Sommet Education Alumni, all students returning to their campuses at Glion Institute of Higher Education, Les Roches and Ecole Ducasse will be able to experience first-hand practicing in an adjusted environment adapted in order to provide the highest safety and hygiene standards to the institutions’ visitors and students themselves.
As practical learning is an integral part of the curriculum of all of the Sommet Education institutions, and Glion and Les Roches campuses in particular provide a possibility for students to serve real customers in the on-campus restaurants and greet visitors in the real “lobby-like” environment, the students will be able to live an immersive experience throughout their studies. This coupled with the various internships the schools provide to their students will allow for their Alumni to integrate the job market with confidence straight after the graduation.
Given that the industry is facing worst-ever crisis, many budding hoteliers are feeling uncertain about making a career in the hospitality industry. What are the steps taken by Sommet to assure them?
Despite the hit the travel and tourism industry has taken due to the crisis, we do believe that being an industry providing 10,4% of world’s GDP, Hospitality will also be the sector that will play the biggest role in rebuilding the world’s economy. Even though challenging, this is the time for all players of hospitality industry to reinvent themselves – reevaluate the best practices, improve their business models and put the customer in the center of their activity.
The motivation to succeed coupled with the resilience and academic and practical experience our students gain during their studies at Sommet Education Institutions are the elements that will allow to surmount the challenges and be the change of tomorrow.
Our Alumni are able to build careers in a broad range of sectors that are customer experience centered, such as luxury, entertainment, health or finance due to their general management competencies, professionalism and wide range of soft skills.
