| Les Roches International School of Hotel Management | |
|---|---|
| Motto | Les Roches - it's not just a school, it's a way of life! |
| Established | 1954 |
| Type | Private School |
| President | Arie A.J. van der Spek |
| Academic staff | 75 |
| Students | 1438 (January 2009) |
| Undergraduates | 1236 |
| Postgraduates | 120 |
| Location | Crans Montana, Switzerland |
| Campus | Les Roches, CH |
| Website | http://www.lesroches.edu |
Les Roches International School of Hotel Management is a private university located in the Swiss Alps in the Canton of Valais. Since 1979, Les Roches offers hotel and tourism management programs taught entirely in English. The Les Roches campus is home to approximately 1200 students from 87 different countries every semester, with an additional 580 students on internship around the world at any time.[1]
Les Roches offers a range of undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate courses in the field of hospitality management with branch campuses in China, Spain, and the USA.
The mission of Les Roches is to prepare students for an international career in the service industries. Les Roches maintains close ties with the hotel and tourism industry through a panel of industry advisors from four major hotel chains.[2]
According to a survey conducted in 2007 by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), hospitality hiring managers rank Les Roches among the top three hotel management schools in the world for an international career.[3]
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The Ecole des Roches, an international boarding school for young people, was founded in 1954 by Messrs Marcel and Jean-Pierre Clivaz. In 1979, Les Roches International School became “Les Roches” Hotel and Tourism School and was the first hospitality school in Switzerland to offer all courses in English. The main campus was virtually destroyed by a fire in April 1985. Despite considerable destruction to the property and its contents, the school only lost one day of classes as arrangements were made to house students and teaching facilities in three hotels in Montana, which were rented for a three-year period. Construction of entirely new buildings began in May 1986. In June 1987, the school moved into its new buildings.
On June 21, 1986, the owners of Les Roches, (Gesthotel SA), signed a management contract with the Swiss Hotel Association which is recognized by the Swiss Federal Department of Economics. Since January 1, 1987, Les Roches has been approved by the Swiss Hotel Association, changing the schools name to Les Roches Swiss Hotel Association Hotel Management School. The name was changed again in 2007 to Les Roches International School of Hotel Management. In November 2000, Les Roches became a part of the Sylvan International Universities, a branch of Sylvan Learning Systems, now known as Laureate Education Inc. Since 2003, Les Roches and Glion Institute of Higher Education, also part of Laureate Education Inc, are governed by the same administration. The Laureate Education Inc. university network includes 42 accredited institutions in Asia, Europe, Australia and the Americas.
Since 2006, Les Roches has expanded its facilities with four extra buildings to accommodate additional students. In 2007, Les Roches opened a newly renovated library complex, auditorium, specially designed front office demonstration theater and a rooms division laboratory.
Les Roches International School of Hotel Management has three main program divisions; the undergraduate programs in hospitality management, the postgraduate programs and the master of business administration. The undergraduate options include the Hotel Management Diploma, the Associate Degree and the Bachelor of Business Administration in International Hotel Management. These undergraduate courses cover the hotel, restaurant, and service industry operations and administration skill sets. Undergraduate students complete three internships in international hospitality organizations for a total of 18 months of work experience over three years.
In the final year of the Bachelor program, students can choose a specialization in Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Finance. In January 2010, Les Roches opened two new specialization tracks: Hotel Design and Project Management, and Culinary Business Management. The Hotel Design and Project Management track covers interior, exterior and architectural design for hospitality facilities, building management, and project management skills. The Culinary Business Management track focuses on menu engineering, gastronomy, restaurant concepts, and event management.[4]
The Les Roches Postgraduate]and Master division offers programs for students from diverse backgrounds. For students who have a first degree in a field unrelated to hospitality, the Postgraduate Diploma in International Hospitality Administration or Postgraduate Higher Diploma in Hospitality Management provide an overview of hotel operations, administration and general business courses. Mature students who have work experience but no bachelor degree can obtain Professional Development Diploma or Higher Diploma following the same courses as in the post graduate program.[5]
The Master of Business Administration]in Hospitality with Finance or Marketing is adapted for students with a first degree in hospitality and experience in a related field. This program requires a dissertation and offers in-depth management and strategic business development courses.[6]
The Les Roches campus stretches across the village of Bluche in the heart of the Swiss Alps. Located at 1,200 meters of altitude, the campus has a mountain climate and a panoramic view of the surrounding region. The campus features three academic wings with 30 classrooms, two computer labs, one demonstration kitchen and demonstration bar, a reception, a mock hotel room, a housekeeping practical classroom, two professional kitchens and two auditoriums. The renovated library offers 10,000 academic titles and 2,000 DVDs and CDs in addition to the 7,000 online academic journals and the separate media center.[7]
Student accommodations are spread throughout the village in 16 separate buildings with different types of room options. All rooms and buildings have internet access, with wireless internet available in the main building. Dining rooms in the campus include a restaurant for a buffet style meals, another restaurant for fine dining, and the lobby bar for snacks and drinks during school hours. A third restaurant, the Café du Village, is located in the village for casual meals at lunch and after-hours.
The Les Roches campus provides a number of sport and recreational facilities including fitness center, gymnasium, basketball and volleyball courts, a football field, and outdoor swimming pool. Within ten minutes by train, students can also visit Crans-Montana for night-life and shopping.
Les Roches is accredited at university level by the Commission on Institutions of Higher Education of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges in the United States. This accreditation entitles Les Roches to deliver internationally recognized undergraduate degrees. Les Roches is also recognized by the Swiss Cantonal State of Valais and the Chartered Institute of Marketing. The Masters of Business Administration is offered through the Universidad Europea de Madrid, in Spain. The UEM holds recognition of the Spanish Minister of Education.
In July 2008, Les Roches' sister school, Les Roches Gruyère-University of Applied Sciences (LRG-UAS), received recognition from the Swiss Confederation to become the first private Swiss university for hospitality management. LRG-UAS students in the Bachelor of Science in Hospitality Management program with a specialization in Food, Beverage and Operations Management take their courses on the Les Roches campus in Bluche.
Les Roches International School of Hotel Management was ranked “among the top three hospitality management schools in the world for an international degree” according to a ranking survey conducted by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) Travel & Tourism (UK) in September 2007. This ranking survey was commissioned by Laureate Hospitality Education to benchmark the various international hospitality management schools providing university level programs.[3]
According to the TNS marketing research “white paper”, responses were received from 275 respondents in 39 hospitality organizations from 52 countries. The questionnaire asked: “Thinking about the hiring of graduates for an international career in the hospitality industry, from the following list of hospitality management schools, please select the ones you would consider to be in your Top 10?” A list of 40 schools was provided, with the option to write in other names. The respondents were also asked to give the names of their “Top 5” schools in order of preference. The three schools that received the most “Top 5” rankings for an international career were: the Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne, Glion Institute of Higher Education, and Les Roches International School of Hotel Management (results given in alphabetical order).