Tell us a little about Glion Institut de Hautes Études

Francine Cuagnier: We’re a Swiss institution specializing in hospitality and luxury goods, celebrating our 60th anniversary in 2022. We train post-baccalaureate students for bachelor’s degrees, post-bachelor’s for master’s degrees, and we also offer executive masters for professionals wishing to perfect their skills.

Young people start out by immersing themselves in the kitchen and reception area, and then follow more theoretical management courses. We work with international chains such as Accor, Marriott and Mandarin Oriental, offering springboards for international careers. We currently have around 1,700 students on our three campuses, two in Switzerland and one in London, including 500 students on work placements.

You’ve just signed a partnership agreement with Essec. What does it involve?

F.C: We are combining our expertise to offer a Global Executive Master’s degree in hospitality management.It’s a program for people who are already working in these professions and want to move up the hierarchy more quickly. Part of the program can be taken online.

The program will start in November 2023 and will comprise four 12-week online teaching modules and four six-day sessions on different campuses: Glion in Montreux, Switzerland, Essec in Singapore, Glion London and finally Essec Paris-La Défense.The four modules are: new frontiers in hospitality, improving financial performance, achieving operational excellence, leading transformation. The curriculum concludes with an entrepreneurial project to contribute to changes in the hotel business.

What do you mean by hospitality?

F.C: It’s a way of being, a sense of service, emotional intelligence, “soft skills” that we try to develop through practical workshops.The way you dress and your punctuality in class already indicate a state of mind that will become more pronounced during the internship.We have 95 different nationalities on our campuses, so everyone arrives with their own way of being and will react differently to a problem. Students will learn from contact with other cultures and integrate a standard of service that will then be adapted to the different brands of their future employers.Indeed, every hotel chain has its own service culture.

Many of our former students also work in the world of luxury goods, watchmaking, jewelry, fashion and private banking, all professions that require the qualities of listening and rigour that we teach in our courses.

What are the expectations of luxury companies after covid?

F.C: What has really changed is the explosion of the luxury industry and the human resources needs of employers, even more so than in 2019.Our students graduating this year have an incredible number of opportunities in prestigious establishments with the possibility of very rapid progression. 50% of them stay in Europe, 35% go to Asia, the rest are spread all over the world.

Interview by Pascale Caussat