Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) has pioneered a first-of-its-kind full-time course in Hotel Asset Management (HAM) which prepares Bachelor students for the hotel industry.
Following consultation with corporate executives, the course was conceived by EHL’s senior academic faculty for final year bachelor students and launched last September.
This course serves as a consolidation of students’ previous years and provides them with a practical bridge course as they prepare to go into the industry.
The first cohort of 320 students are just about to finish the HAM course and will be ready to experience the industry from a new perspective, which in turn allows them to have a more professional dialogue with their future employers, such as hotel brand companies, investors, consulting firms, development companies, REIT’s, and lenders, to name a few.
This course fills a significant gap in the current landscape of hospitality education, and ensures that EHL graduates remain well-armed for the current market challenges. The HAM course not only provides future hotel executives with an understanding of the hotel owner’s view-point and objectives, but also strengthens graduates’ competences for opportunities within the hotel development sector.
Jonathan Humphries and Oliver Judge, co-creators of the course explain: “We wanted the students to have an authentic experience of what it is like to be in the business environment, constantly under pressure, whilst always trying to delicately manage different perspectives and relationships. The course focusses on both the softer components such as the importance of relationship skills, whilst giving insight into the global business models of the industry, plus evaluating projects from an investment, profitability and return perspective.”
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime career opportunity to translate real world topics such as Hotel Asset Management and Hotel Planning and Development into an academic environment, within one of the world’s most prestigious and impressive hotel management schools.” Says Humphries.
The response from students has been incredibly positive V. Hasse, a final year undergraduate at EHL said “As well as understanding the key drivers behind hotel operating performance, we gain practical tools for maximizing returns to owners”.
A. Dubois, also a final year undergraduate at EHL added “This course accurately reflected the experience I received during my internship at a hotel asset management company”.
“This is an exciting and demanding industry focused course, which gives us a thorough understanding of the hotel investment and corporate landscape”: K. Hoffmann, final year undergraduate, EHL.
Humphries and Judge are now looking for reputable industry bodies to endorse the HAM course, which would increase the awareness of the course with the students’ future employers.
“We decided to create something unique, which mirrors how asset management professionals actually work. The ability to think like an owner, is crucial for an executive’s success in the hotel industry, and this is one of the first courses that provides this insight” commented Judge.
Jonathan Humphries is a Senior Lecturer at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne and was previously Vice President at Marriott International’s Europe, Middle East and Africa development team. Oliver Judge is the co-creator and currently Managing Director at Hetherley Capital Partners, which is a specialist hotel investment and asset management company.
