Prestigious Swiss hospitality school Ecole hoteliere de Lausanne (Lausanne Hotel School) announced on Saturday that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with an Iranian firm to open a campus in Isfahan.
Speaking at the International Travel and Hospitality Conference (February 20-22), Andre Mack, the director of Lausanne Hospitality Consulting and a faculty member at EHL, said the school had signed an MOU with Iranian investment firm Atiyeh Saba, a subsidiary of the Civil Servants Pensions Fund, to the Iran Hospitality Learning Center and Academy in Isfahan, which is a tourist hub.
“Opening what we aim to be a center of excellence demonstrates our commitment to provide a first-class academic education and open a new chapter in the hospitality industry not only in Iran but also in the region,” CSPF managing director, Mahmoud Esmaeilian, said in a press release sent to the Financial Tribune.
This is welcome news for both travelers and professionals involved in the tourism and hospitality industries. Iran’s ambition to become a global tourism hotspot is hampered by the lack of an efficient and modern hospitality industry. Many hotels are run by under-qualified managers and guests are served by untrained staff.
Last month, during President Hassan Rouhani’s visit to France, Tehran and Paris signed a number of agreements, one of which included the training of Iranian hotel managers and staff by French experts.
