TravelDailyNews: How does your educational program respond to the needs of the international market?

Mike Levefer: Alpine Center and its education partners in Switzerland, USA and UK are members of international associations that take the lead in shaping and designing curricula and training programs that responds to the needs of the international marketplace. Annual conferences, workshops and seminars take place where academics meet with industry professionals to present their research and discuss how institutions can prepare their students for the ever-changing and challenging careers that await them. Alpine Center is proud to be an active member in these international associations and to have an Advisory Board comprising over 40 leaders in the industry that gives advice and guidance on topics such as curriculum, industry placements, internships, guest speakers in the classroom, special events and strategic planning.

Preparing students to function effectively in an international environment is very important as our industry has always been “global” while it continues to become more so at a rapidly increasing rate. To address this trend, Alpine’s flexible curriculum places emphasis on preparing students to thrive in the international marketplace. Furthermore, Alpine’s academic dean, faculty and staff are international themselves as they represent over 6 nationalities. Alpine’s student body is becoming increasingly international with students now representing more than 24 different nationalities. Thus, the environment and the curriculum ensure that students are well prepared for the international marketplace.

TDN: What should a tourism education institution do in order to remain in the forefront of a more demanding and variable hospitality industry?

M. L.: The professional education and training we offer at Alpine mirror the rapid changes that are inherent in the industry. Since our inception, I cannot remember any two years when our curriculum was not modernized and where modules were not revised to incorporate new trends. The changing nature and cultural values of the international marketplace requires new strategies whilst the advent of new technologies incorporating e-commerce, business-on-line and other approaches will provide opportunities for an increasing number of skilled graduates.

Hospitality and tourism education programs must respond to both major and subtle industry changes by rigorously following the trends and re-evaluating their curricula with the assistance of industry professionals to meet the needs of a rapidly changing hospitality industry environment. Initially, the concept and curriculum of hospitality management programs were patterned after the traditional hospitality management models which were often narrow and highly country-specific. In the meantime, the industry changed drastically and grew at a very fast pace. As a result, the trend is now towards an applied and internationally-accepted business management concept common in hospitality curricula around the world. There is now a shift towards courses that help students develop critical thinking and problem solving skills, cultural communication, strategic management and global marketing, and other functional skills for surviving and doing well in a global economy. An example of what educational institutions should do in order to remain in the forefront of changes is a recent study by Kyriakidis and Rach (2006) who found that the hotel industry expects to dramatically increase IT spending, particularly in reservations, customer loyalty programs and customer relationship management. It is therefore quite clear that hospitality educational programs worldwide will have to adjust their curricula to emphasize a greater emphasis on technology and perhaps even offer specialized programs of study in consumer IT.

TDN: How important is practice and what kind of practice are you offering to your students?

M. L.: Today best-practice hospitality management programs focus on education and training in three distinct areas: technical, human, and conceptual. Practical training is critical to the acquisition of technical and human relations skills. Students of hospitality management cannot aspire to become good managers if they do not engage in practical lessons and fulfill a structured internship program in a hotel, restaurant or tourist office where they can acquire sound technical and human relations skills. The Swiss philosophy of education in this field blends practical training with classroom theory and focuses on the 4 Pillar Approach: practical skills, management competencies, professional attitude, and a commitment to lifelong learning. Alpine Center’s campus includes an operating hotel where students are the guests and operators! In the first year they learn how to be good team members and operate a restaurant. In order to better understand how a restaurant works, they take practical classes in the kitchen to learn about food production, design, menu planning, etc. They also learn how a housekeeping department functions by actually learning how to service a guest room, maintain the common areas and the importance of interior design. The theory behind this training is: how can they supervise people working in the housekeeping department if they do not themselves know what chambermaids actually do. Likewise, they learn the responsibilities of a front desk clerk by being one and learning how to make reservations, check-in guests, handle complaints, etc. In the second year of study they take more management courses and learn how to supervise first-year students through their human resource management modules and through training and motivating first year students.

Students develop competence through active learning. Students who complete two internships before graduation enter the workforce with reduced anxiety, higher perceived self efficacy, and increased general and specific skills. By actually practicing their supervisory skills students are acquiring transferable skills that include managing employees, managing themselves and interacting with guests. Human skills have been identified as a major element to a manager’s success in hospitality. These skills include leadership, employee relations, managerial communications, organization, training and staffing. Thus our curriculum which includes core modules in all these areas allows students to practice what they learn immediately. As far as technical skills are concerned, modules in food and beverage management, housekeeping management and maintenance and engineering are also included in the curriculum. Furthermore, doing internships in different countries exposes students to different cultures and gives them a better understanding of international perceptions and perspectives. At Alpine we encourage and assist students to do at least one training abroad. In their third year of study which leads to the BA(Hons) degree in International Hospitality & Tourism Management, emphasis is higher on conceptual skills where modules develop student ability to respond effectively to an ever-changing business environment.

TDN: What kind of problems are your students facing to find a job according to their standards?

M. L.: I am very proud to say that our students and graduates are in great demand by industry for internships and career opportunities upon graduation. This is a reflection of the excellent preparation they receive during their years of study at Alpine Center and also to the dynamic efforts of our Career & Placement office. Alpine enjoys very strong links with leaders in the industry, thus our students are offered career opportunities in leading companies with high international standards. As part of their professional development, students learn how to set career goals, motivate themselves, be comfortable during an interview and start their careers in the areas they feel they can excel in. I, therefore, would say our students face few problems in finding jobs up to their standards, especially when they are given the opportunity to put into practice all the technical, human and conceptual skills they have learned. A good number of our students either return to manage their own family businesses or are entrepreneurs that establish their own companies.

TDN: What prerequisites are at the top list of the tourism companies and organizations?

M. L.: I believe the priorities are to be professional at all times, and to promote professionalism amongst their colleagues, associates and consumers by adhering to high standards in products and services, ethical practices and by employing exemplary leadership qualities and skills. A demand for lifelong learning should be encouraged to cope with the economic shifts, rapidly developing technology and continually changing job content which is bringing unique demands to hospitality companies and organizations.

To survive in a highly competitive market, innovation and creativity top the list. New brands of tourism change the rules of the game in the industry and call for new strategies to ensure competitive success. Competitive success is based on a number of innovative approaches for tourism in particular: putting your customers first; being a leader in quality; being ultra-flexible and constantly striving for freshness; developing radical innovations; and strengthening the player’s strategic position within the industry’s value chain.

TDN: How does research contribute to the enhancement of the tourism studies? What is the role of the internet in today’s educational programs?

M. L.: The term “research” is all around us. A poll of people’s opinions on sustainable tourism normally refers to how the data were collected. Policy makers often justify their decisions based on research findings while a media advertisement of a particular tourist destination may use “research results” to add validity to the destination’s reported desirability. Research contributes to the study of tourism by increasing knowledge and innovation, addressing business and government issues, and solving managerial problems. The role of the internet is crucial in this research process as it provides a vast electronic library of information and past research studies. These studies help provide the necessary background and need for further research in order to discover the never-ending unfolding of knowledge and new solutions for old and new challenges alike.