About EHL

Director's message

Ruud J. Reuland General Director

The Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne was founded a hundred and fifteen years ago, and since then has never ceased to grow and innovate. During this time, the hospitality industry too has greatly evolved. It is now the fastest-growing economic sector in the world and is reaching out into many new business areas. In response to these rapid changes, EHL continually evaluates and updates its programmes to correspond to new industry needs. In this context, EHL decided last year to recast the school's mission statement, emphasizing the two aspects that make the school unique: its close, on-going ties to the industry, and its distinctive philosophy of education.

EHL’s partnership with industry has always been strong, and we are now taking steps to make it even stronger. A new relationship model, the “Company Culture Scheme”, has therefore been put in place, enabling industry professionals and educators to engage equally in identifying, nurturing and orienting students throughout their studies, creating a value chain focusing not on jobs, but on careers, and allowing companies to select and form students to their company culture.

At the same time, we are also renewing our commitment to our unique educational philosophy, which bases learning both on science and art as the best possible preparation for hospitality management. Although the “science” or business aspect is essential, learning the “art” of management is something that distinguishes us from other business schools. EHL has known from the start that focusing on the arts is a way of nurturing creativity, breaking the usual moulds of thinking and encouraging innovation.