The Unique Advantage of Studying Business in a Hospitality Setting

Business education takes many forms, but few environments offer lessons as immediate and practical as hospitality. It provides a dynamic environment where financial decisions and human interactions are closely connected, offering students a powerful perspective on how business really works.

Many see finance or management as the natural route to a business career, yet hospitality offers one of the most practical training grounds. Running a hotel or luxury brand demands mastery of operations, finance, marketing, HR, and customer experience, where every decision has real financial and human impact. At the forefront is EHL Hospitality Business School. With 130 years of experience, campuses in Switzerland and Singapore, and a network of 30,000 alumni, EHL has redefined hospitality as rigorous, multi-disciplinary business education.

Hospitality as the Ultimate Business Lab

Business degrees often emphasise theory but offer limited exposure to real-world practice. Hospitality, however, combines people management, financial oversight, and operational decision-making in real time. For example, a hotel general manager might adjust pricing, resolve staffing challenges, address guest concerns, run marketing campaigns, and report financial results all in one day, requiring the ability to apply business concepts quickly and effectively under pressure.

EHL’s Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management is designed with this in mind. The programme combines rigorous business courses in areas such as service management, financial accounting, and marketing with hands-on workshops in service excellence.

Students also complete two six-month internships, the first in an operational role within hospitality and the second in a business or management position, often in sectors as varied as luxury, real estate, or finance. This dual structure ensures that students can translate classroom theory into practical skills while learning to lead teams, serve clients, and manage budgets in real business environments.

Offered in Switzerland and Singapore, this programme teaches leadership in the classroom and reinforces it daily through real business settings where decisions have a direct impact.

“The combination of theoretical and practical training helped me a lot. What I liked best was the direct contact with customers. I was treated like a full-fledged employee and my work was very much appreciated.” – Xenia Marchesini, Italy

The EHL Difference: Practice with Purpose

Hospitality offers a unique lens for business education, where every decision influences both financial outcomes and people’s experiences. At EHL, internships and extracurricular activities provide students with practical opportunities to apply these lessons and prepare for the professional world.

Hands-On Workshops & Labs: From the first semester, students engage in over 25 workshops and labs covering front desk, food and beverage, housekeeping, fine dining at EHL’s Michelin-starred restaurant, mixology, pastry, and event management. These emphasise customer interaction, quality control, and the practical application of courses such as financial accounting, marketing strategy, and operations management.

First Internship (Operational – Semester AP 2): Complete a six-month internship on the front lines of hospitality, handling real challenges such as staff shortages, guest reviews, and revenue management.

Second Internship (Business – Semester BOSC 4): Undertake a six- month supervisory or administrative role across sectors including luxury, consulting, and real estate, with alumni placements at Cartier in Paris, PwC in Zurich, L’Oréal in Tokyo, Marriott in Hong Kong, and Buckingham Palace.

Start-Up Project Option: Entrepreneurial students can replace the business internship with their own venture, developing it with mentorship and resources from the EHL Innovation Hub.

Student Business Project (SBP – Final Semester): In their final year, students act as junior consultants in teams of five, tackling real business challenges, with themes including product development, marketing strategy, market studies, customer experience design, and business plan validation.

EHL offers extensive global exposure and experience in cross-cultural teams through its campuses in Switzerland and Singapore and a community representing over 120 nationalities.

From Classroom to Career: Graduate Outcomes

“One important thing I learned in EHL is that paying attention to details is crucial. I also developed proactivity. It helped me improve my ability to interact, understand and work with different cultures and face many different situations in life.” – Thibaud Lecuyer, Global Fashion Group Co-Founder and Managing Director

EHL graduates are not limited to hotels or restaurants. Their career paths span finance, consulting, real estate, luxury goods, FMCG, technology, and entrepreneurship. Companies such as Apple, LVMH, Nestlé, Tesla, and Procter & Gamble actively recruit EHL graduates for their mix of analytical capability, leadership, and customer-first mindset.

These numbers speak for themselves:

• 96% of graduates secure jobs within 6 months of graduation.
• More than 55% hold senior management positions or above during their careers.
• 180+ companies recruit on campus at career fairs each semester.
• Over 12,000 companies use EHL’s job platform to hire students and alumni.

It is no surprise that EHL has been ranked number one worldwide in a variety of criteria by QS since 2019. Through hands- on internships and real-world projects, students build resilience, adaptability, a strong customer-first mindset, and the agility to manage crises such as busy service periods or guest complaints. These skills cannot be taught through theory alone. It is our hands-on approach that sets EHL graduates apart in the global job market.

Why this Matters Now

As technology, AI, and customer expectations continue to evolve, businesses require leaders who can combine technical expertise with cultural intelligence, adaptability, and empathy.

Success today requires people who can deliver human experience, manage operations, respond quickly under pressure, and maintain service excellence. Hospitality provides exactly this mix: the combination of theory and practice, financial expertise and human touch.

For students, it means stepping into meaningful work from the start. For employers, it means gaining graduates who are prepared to lead with confidence.

The Lasting Value of Hospitality in Business

The best business education does more than prepare you for the future, it immerses you in real business challenges from the very first day. With its combination of financial discipline, operational complexity, and human interaction, hospitality offers one of the most practical and future-ready training grounds for tomorrow’s leaders.

For more than a century, EHL Hospitality Business School has united Swiss academic excellence with global opportunities and hands-on experience. Students at our campuses in Lausanne, Passugg, and Singapore graduate prepared to lead with resilience, confidence, and vision. Above all, they leave with a distinctive skill set that equips them to succeed across industries.

Experience EHL’s Bachelor in International Hospitality Management and see how business meets real-world practice. Visit our website and join our Open Days on 11 October and 6 December in Lausanne.