Accor announced its partnerships with the Pole Universitaire Francais (PUF), the University of Toulouse II – Le Mirail (UTM) and the Social and Human Sciences University/National University of Hanoi (VNUHN) through the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) respectively to implement the Master Degree in Hospitality Management.

The MOU signing ceremony will be held on 8 May 2008 at 4pm at the Thang Long Hall 2, Sofitel Metropole. The agreement will be signed by Mr Gilles Cretallaz, Accor Vietnam Northern Delegate , Mr Laurent Grosclaude and Mr Nguyen Huu Hai, Directors of Pole Universitaire Français, Mr Daniel Weissberg, Vice-President of University of Toulouse II – Le Mirail (UTM) and Rector Nguyen Van Khan of the Social and Human Sciences University/National University of Hanoi (VNUHN).

Under the MOU agreement:

• Accor agrees to provide financial support to selected students and provide internships for enrolled students
• Accor senior managers will conduct selected lectures for the program
• The Masters degree will be issued by the University of Toulouse II – Le Mirail (UTM)
• Pole Universitaire Francais (PUF) will market the program and manage the student recruitment process
• UTM is responsible for the engineering and pedagogical follow-up of the program
• VNUHN will provide teaching facilities, coordinate the teaching program and organize specific lectures including foreign language courses

Master of Hospitality Management Degree program

In a major push to support the development of Accor’s growing network in Vietnam, the Master of Hospitality Management Degree program will create a pool of talented and experienced middle-managers for Accor and support the growth of the hospitality industry. The degree will last 15 months including 5 months of internship, with the first class starting this October.

The program will be divided in three parties:

1) Fundamental modules and foreign languages (French and English)
2) Application and practical course
3) Internship

The curriculum will include a variety of courses such as international marketing, budgeting and cost analysis, quality management and international law for tourism.

Accor’s commitment to this program will be of a high importance as it will sponsor up to 20 students per class half the course fees, place them in Accor hotels for internships and offer them a full-time position within its network upon completion of this Master degree program. Selection criteria will be based on academic results, professional experience and above all, motivation and career potential.

In addition, Accor will actively participate in the recruitment process, provide professional lecturers, and attend steering committees in order to maximize the adequacy between the program and the business reality of the market.