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SE04E04 l Inès Blal l Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL)

SE04E04 l Inès Blal l Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL)

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'Now is THE time for a career in Hospitality. Everything is possible.' - states Inès Blal, Managing Director & Executive Dean at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) in this in-depth interview.

André Baljeu, Founder at techtalk.travel sat down with Inès Blal at the EHL campus in Lausanne, Switzerland. In this conversation, Inès shares her thoughts and views about how higher education and hotel business schools adapt to the change accelerated by the crisis and how the EHL community navigated through this difficult time. She speaks about what future challenges educational institutions face, the importance of the learner's journey, customer-centricity, the problem of hospitality businesses copying each other, the EHL Innovation Village, and much more.

Time-stamps:

00:35 - Adjusting to radical change 

09:06 - Key messages to students and faculty

11:40 - Future challenges for educational institutions   

19:56 - Vision on digitization in higher education

24:21 - Why choose a career in hospitality now? 

30:53 - Retaining talent and future leaders

34:34 - The EHL Innovation Village

37:24 - Digitizing the academic portfolio and learning experience

39:04 - Inès' favorite hotel and hotel experience

42:28 - Inès' favorite restaurant and food

If you prefer watching the video-version of this conversation, find it here and on our Youtube Channel.



Dr. Inès Blal, Executive Dean EHL


Passionate about unlocking human capital, Dr. Inès Blal assumed the deanship and Managing Director position in August 2017.

She joined EHL in 2006, as a lecturer, while she was completing her doctoral dissertation. She designed and taught undergraduate, graduate, and executive courses and managed applied research and consulting projects for the hotel industry. She establishes the strategy and leads the development and implementation of blended and digital training programs in a multicultural and global environment. During her fifteen years of experience in higher education, Ines gained expertise in curriculum development, implementation of innovative teaching practices, management at senior level, academic governance, and program accreditation in Europe, North Africa, and the United States.

Inès  holds a PhD in Strategic Management in Hospitality and Tourism from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, an MBA in Hospitality Administration from EHL, and a bachelor’s degree in International Business from the INSEEC Group.

Connect with Inès on LinkedIn.



About EHL

Founded in 1893, EHL is considered one of the best hotel management schools in the world. Inès heads up 170 people on the faculty and 3,700 students. 

EHL has two campuses in Switzerland, in Lausanne and Chur-Passugg, plus a new campus in Singapore. Each campus brings the strengths and trends of their surrounding industry regions to augment the quality of the student experience. Bachelor of Science in International Hospitality Management students can request to spend a semester on a different campus from where they are based.

Visit EHL's website.


 Resources


Also, find these interviews with inspiring hospitality industry professionals and leaders:

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