2019 was an outstanding year for HTMi.

We recorded the highest academic results ever at Bachelor Degree level (7 first-class honours, and 20 second class upper division at BSc level in one cohort in our Summer Exam Board); first Swiss Hotel School to: open in Dubai; achieve an ICO from KHDA; achieve 4-years EduTrust in Singapore; launched a large Certified Professional Programmes within a hotel chain; our student team reached the top 6 in the EM Cup; launched the 42nd edition of our online student journal; held our 23rd Research Conference at HTMi; successfully supported the Swiss South African Apprenticeship Programme to get South African youth into work in the hospitality industry; continued to record very high employer satisfaction levels of our students at work; restructured as a global organisation with key campuses in Switzerland, Singapore, Dubai, Bahrain, Australia, and 20 other partnerships globally; and recorded over 2000 students studying our courses annually. Here are the highlights:

January : HTMi Switzerland Dubai was launched at a signing ceremony at the prestigious No 1 Sheik Zayed Road city location. This is the first and only Swiss Hotel school in Dubai with a beautiful city campus.

To strengthen our international leadership Bernie Quinn became International Academic Director of HTMi International Development Group.

February : we entered the EM Cup in Maastricht with an elite team, ended up in the top 9, and from Switzerland only HTMi and EHL (Ecole Hotelerie Lausanne) made it into the finals. Finally, we are place number 6 in Europe, number 1 in Switzerland.

HTMi Switzerland awarded another 3 years accreditation of the Swiss EduQua qualification, and that accreditation was awarded to our Centres of Excellent in research, events, culinary, career, academics and culinary centres. This reaccreditation marked a series of many successful re-accreditations in 2019.

March: Our sister brand Swisstouches Hotels and Resorts, originally launched by HTMi, celebrates 10 years of excellence. and today we have a pipeline of 10,000 rooms globally, now managed by thousands of employees.

HTMi Research Centre Launches Volume 1 2019, the 42nd edition of the International Hospitality and Tourism Student Journal.

April : SSHAP, Swiss South African Apprenticeship Programme – Launched, a first in the industry designed to put thousands of young South African unemployed to work in the hospitality industry. This initiative was launched through a combined effort of the Swiss Embassy in South Africa supported by HTMi, and the NBI, National Business Initiative South Africa. SSHAP is based upon the famous Swiss dual system. HTMi was the hotel school selected to do this and now is the proud SSHAP partner.

HTMi Switzerland receives the ICO from KHDA Dubai, giving us the recognised authority to award our diplomas in Dubai.

HTMi restructured with the new strategic tactic of “HTMi Switzerland Moving Forward”, HTMi Switzerland became the Swiss education and training centre representing the HTMi brand globally, and due to its excellent reputation and achievements, has grown to four HTMi fully branded campuses in Switzerland, Singapore, Dubai and Australia as well as key partnership campuses and “Sister Schools” in more than 20 countries.

HTMi (Singapore) Team Secures Four-year EduTrust Award, after 3 years of hard work and again HTMi is the first-ever Swiss hotel school to do this

May : we announced SHGI – Swiss Hospitality Group International, with a Vision: To be a leader in nurturing and growing innovative Swiss hospitality brands. with membership benefits to all HTMi branches and affiliates globally; Careers at Swisstouches, International study, training and employment pathways, Lifetime membership of our global Hosco platform, participation in global recruitment forums and more.

HTMi Switzerland celebrates 22nd Student Research Conference, cementing our position as a leading member in student research.

June : Ulster University and HTMi Celebrate 15-years Partnership.

July : HTMi Switzerland continues international expansion, forming a new partnership with SEGI Colleges Malaysia.

Berne Quinn, HTMi International Academic Director, was recognized as a Principal Fellow of the UK Higher Education Academy (PFHEA). The recognition is of his own personal attainments against the ‘UK Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Learning Support in Higher Education’.

August : Following the University of Ulster BSc (Hons) Examination Board we were delighted to announce our highest level of academic results ever. From a BSc student cohort of 30 students, we recorded twenty 2:1 (second class upper division) and seven first-class honours awards. This record-breaking set of results puts the bar at a new height of excellence
September: HTMi Switzerland launches its first Certified Training Centre within hotels at Swisstouches Hotels and Resorts, launching HTMi Professional qualifications within the hotel industry.

November : Marriott International Asia Pacific visits HTMi (Singapore), and launched a global online recruitment from there for HTMi and all its partners globally.

Academic Leadership. HTMi Welcomes: Professor Emerita Bamber to the HTMi Academic Board. Roni is Professor Emerita of Higher Education at Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, and is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy; and a new external examiner Jane Welbourn with over 15 years’ experience as an academic and leadership and development consultant working at Leeds Business School, Leeds Beckett University.

SSHAP Graduation; launched early in 2019 we went all the way to our first graduation. H.E. Swiss Ambassador to South Africa, Dr. Nicolas Brueghel, presented the HTMi Certificates to the first cohort of Apprentices, who successfully completed the dual system apprenticeship programme in leading hotels in Johannesburg. The second group of apprentices is now being selected, and a scaling-up plan is in progress.
HTMi Switzerland holds the 23rd International Research Conference. The theme of the conference was “Gastronomy and the importance of sustainable food policies”, followed by our “Out of this world Gala event, highly praised by many members of the diplomatic Corps.

December : HTMi expands in China, since its launch in October, with 603 students enrolled in HTMi certified professional hospitality courses jointly awarded by HTMi and Swisstouches.

HTMi Switzerland Dubai holds its first graduation for Emirati students.

Carlos Oberli, HTMi Lecturer, obtains his PhD from the University of Glasgow.

Employer satisfaction: HTMi announced continued very high employer satisfaction results through HTMi’s Career Centre key objective for all students is “High Employer Satisfaction”. HTMi sees this as the key barometer of its reputation with employers. During 2018 and 2019 HTM’s Research carried out qualitative and quantitative research by analysing the content of employer references given to students, and work evaluations required by HTMi. This research also looked at the progression over time. The key results are: HTMi students are held in high regard by employers, with 86.3% of employers took the time to provide personalised references, while the rest were generic. The most common forms of feedback recorded in employers’ references mentioned “independence, flexibility, politeness, punctuality, appropriate grooming, honesty and integrity,” the words “to our full satisfaction” and similar endorsements of HTMi students appear in over 80% of reference letters. 68.2 % of employers specifically mention in the references that they will in future be ready to rehire the students. HTMi provided all employers with a Likert scale and key criteria to rate overall satisfaction, the result is 5.3 overall out of a maximum 6. Overall 88.3% satisfaction level.

We announced our 20th anniversary in Switzerland, 1999-2019, and the relentless pursuit of our Vision: “To be a leading hotel management institute in the world” We started in 1999 with 16 students, and today we have over 2000 globally studying our diplomas and growing with full force.