CHE class picture - Leysin (Switzerland)

Khemraj Lakai tells us about his recent visit to Leysin, Switzerland to attend a CHE workshop, and his hopes and dreams of a career and network in hospitality.

May 2001 - a fairly long but mild winter in Switzerland was already on its way out and the bare trees were coming alive with budding leaves and colourful flowers, all adding to the tranquility and homely ambience of the small town of Chur. The smell of freshly cut grass and the sound of cowbells already proliferated the hills and people were venturing out again (Leute beim Wandern, as the locals called it). Graduation was fast approaching and classmates were still working on the yearbook, as part of their school project. Despite the approaching finals, the year-book team was running and approaching students with a question “What would you like to become in the future?” Simple as it sounded in the beginning, the question hit home harder for me, as I clearly knew that the dreams, career predictions and paths are never easy as they first seem to students. A dream that I had prior to landing in Switzerland was no longer valid to be considered as dream. However, I felt a few things in common with most graduates…uncertainty, but positive energy and lots of hope.

Shangri-La Academy in Beijing, the centralised employee training centre of Asia Pacific's leading luxury hotel group, Shangri-La Hotels and Resorts, has teamed with distinguished Sun Yat-Sen University to launch two-year hotel management programmes starting September 2006.

The "Shangri-La Class" objective will be to instill the skills, management ability and flexibility to produce talented hospitality industry professionals. Sun Yat-Sen University will focus on academics, while Shangri-La Academy will provide industry-specific training. Graduates will receive both an associate degree from the university and a hotel management certificate from Shangri-La Academy.

The HTW has launched a bi-annual newsletter called "Voyage" for the alumni and current students of the E-MBA (Executive MBA) in Tourism Management. The E-MBA program was first launched in 2001 and has so far been taken by over 60 students.

This first edition of the newsletter includes the following articles:
- HTW Chur Commences Accreditation Process
- Presenting the Institute for Tourism and Leisure Research
- Lecturer Researches the Ageing Population and Tourism
- CEO of ArabellaSheraton Visits the E-MBA Program in Chur
- From Idea to Success: An Interview with Gregory Root
- Two Programs: One Ambition 3

- review by a former student

A little bit about yourself: My name is Chandu Kiran. I finished my higher secondary education in Atkinson High School and my intermediate classes 11th & 12th.

Why Hotel Management? Basically I am a kind of person who likes to interact with others and come up with creative ideas, so I was looking for a good course which would enable me to develop my communication skills, talent and help me to come up with my creative ideas over and above show a pathway to a good future.

Tell us more about your college: Through some of my friends and well wishers I came to know about the hotel management field and realized that it was best fit for me. So then I joined Westin College of Hotel Management which is the best college in our city. I joined a three year course which would open doors for all my ideas to flourish.

"InterContinental Hotels Group Signs Agreement With Empresas Bern to Open the First Holiday Inn Hotel and School in the Republic of Panama"

MIAMI (August 4, 2006) - InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), the world’s largest hotel group by number of rooms, today signed a letter of understanding with Empresas Bern to open the Holiday Inn Hotel and School Panama Canal at the City of Knowledge in Panama. The hotel and school, which in its initial phase will have 110 rooms, will be the first educational institution for InterContinental Hotels Group Latin America.