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Dear AEHT Members

the Gulf of Guinea.


Just like the Portuguese navigators 550 years ago, After the discovery of America by Christopher
let’s set sail and head for a new territory situated on Columbus, the Pope was called upon to adjudicate,
the banks of the Tagus estuary which the inhabitants and in 1493 divided the world between the Spaniards
of Lisbon called ‘Sea of Straw’ (Mar da palha)’ and the Portuguese in the Papal Bull known as ‘Inter
because of the yellowish reflections caused by the Coetera’ which became the Treaty of Tordesillas in
setting sun. Lisbon, Europe’s most westerly capital, 1494. The Portuguese obtained Brazil and Africa,
will be our host for the 23rd AEHT Annual Conference while the Spaniards were awarded the rest of
from 5th to 10th October 2010. Lisbon and the America west of Brazil. Not only was Lisbon’s and
surrounding region boast a remarkable heritage Portugal’s wealth guaranteed for the next century,
dating from Portugal’s 16th century golden age and but also our cultures and our culinary habits would
financed by the wealth brought back from Portuguese be greatly altered as a result.
colonies discovered in the 15th century during the
many Portuguese voyages of discovery; these were
organised not only to promote the Catholic faith and
to counter Moorish conquests and influence, but also
to put a stop to the commercial superiority of the
Arabs and Venetians.

The Executive Board at the Lisbon Hotel School on March 6th

For many of our students the AEHT Annual


Padrão dos Descobrimentos – the monument built in Belém in 1960 to Conference is an important stage in their careers,
commemorate the 500th anniversary of the death of Henry the Navigator,
the Portuguese king who instigated the first expeditions. The king’s giving them the opportunity to show off their vital
statue stands at the prow. competences, their skills and their professional
knowledge, as well as developing their contacts with
Thus in 1460 the Portuguese discovered Guinea, the the rest of the world. This event will enable them to
first of their five African colonies, thereby securing discover a new educational and professional world,
their monopoly of African trade, especially of gold, an exceptional multinational environment, a new
ivory, slaves and malagueta (an African substitute for sociocultural context, a new gastronomy and new
pepper). In 1487 Bartolomeu Dias reached the shore friendships. However, so that this experience can
of present-day Angola, then the most southerly lands become an unqualified success, and so that no
of Africa, returning via the Cape of Good Hope. In student should be excluded from the competitions, the
1497 Vasco de Gama discovered the route to the Competitions Committee has just drawn up a set of
Indies, thus putting a stop to Venice’s Mediterranean rules which must be observed to the letter:
monopoly of the spice trade and undermining the
Arabs’ commercial interests in this domain.
1. Every student must have the required
Following Vasco de Gama, Pedro Alvares Cabral,
language level for the chosen contest, as
Francisco d’Almeida and Afonso d’Albuquerque
defined by the Council of Europe’s
established settlements to support the spice trade in
framework of reference for languages. The
Zanzibar, Calicut and Malacca. It was by chance that
teacher in charge must confirm this level
Alvares Cabral, who had set off with his squadron of
when he or she registers the student. If
13 ships and 1500 men to intimidate the Arabs,
this rule is not observed, the candidate will
discovered Brazil while avoiding the calm waters of

Diekirch, April 2010 1 N°1/2010


be excluded from the contest.  Cocktail Bar competition
2. No school may register more than one  Competition involving the presentation of a
student per contest. The online registration tourism destination (for students in initial
system will automatically refuse a second training) and Tourism Management
registration. competition (for Higher Education students)
3. No student may participate more than once in  Flambé competition
an Annual Conference. The organisers will  Reception competition
carry out checks to prevent this.  Management competition
4. The online registration system will  Pastry competition
automatically limit the number of places per  Restaurant service competition
country available in the competitions to 25% of  Wine service competition.
the allocated places, except for the All the competitions will take place at the Marriott
management competition where this quota will Hotel, Avenidas dos Combatentes 45, PT-1600-042
be 50%. Similarly, the organising country may Lisbon, except for the culinary arts and pastry con-
allocate to itself any places which remain tests which will be held at the Lisbon hotel school.
unfilled by the registration dead-line, thus Since the ‘carnation revolution’ in 1974, and espe-
possibly exceeding the quota. cially since it joined the European Union in 1986,
5. The accompanying teachers will be Lisbon has undergone remarkable development. Long
obliged to indicate when they register gone are the dark days of the 46-year Salazar dicta-
which subject(s) they teach so that they torship, during which time the Portuguese economy
can be members of the judging panels, was in ruins. We will be hosted by a brand-new city
thus enabling all teachers to take part in at which enjoys a standard of living and infrastructures
least one excursion. which compare well with those of other Eastern
European capitals. The facilities to be used during
This 23rd Annual Conference is being organised by the Conference bear ample witness to this.
the Directorate of the department for school coordi-
nation and management of the ‘Turismo de Portugal
I.P.’ agency together with the Lisbon hotel school.
The ‘Turismo de Portugal I.P.’ agency is aligned to
the Ministry for Economy, Innovation and Develop-
ment, and is the national/central tourism authority
responsible for the promotion, improvement and sus-
tainable development of tourism activity in Portugal.
16 Hotel and Tourism Schools, located throughout
Portugal, are answerable to the Agency - and many
of them are involved in organising the Conference.

Marriott Hotel, Lisbon The New York Conference and


Banqueting Hall

The Lisbon hotel school has occupied this Head Office of ‘Turismo de
1927 building since 2009 Portugal I.P’

The programme has not changed much since the


preliminary version was presented to the General
Assembly in Dubrovnik. Nine competitions will be
offered:
 Culinary Arts competition Auditorium for wine studies Two of the Lisbon Hotel School’s
many kitchens

Diekirch, April 2010 2 N°1/2010


Numerous excursions lasting two or three hours will
be organised in Lisbon itself, and three others will
take us outside the city, as follows:
1. Óbidos, a fortified town north of Lisbon, and one
of the favourite tourist attractions because of the
well-preserved ramparts which date from the
Moorish occupation and which were partially
restored in the 12th, 13th and 16th centuries. A keep
and the castle’s high towers occupy the northern
part of the town, which is at a higher elevation.
From the covered way you will enjoy a splendid
view over the town and its white painted houses
picked out in blue and yellow. The River Tagus (Tejo) is over 1000 kms The ‘Eléctrico’, the
long and rises near to Madrid. View from hundred-year-old tram
2. Évora, a fortress city dating from the Portuguese the Castelo de São Jorge which trundles along the
golden age, located around a hundred kilometres narrow streets of Old Lisbon
east of Lisbon. It is rich in history, having kept
from its eventful past numerous medieval and Delegates will register online in the same way as in
renaissance palaces - the town is amazing museum 2010. However, the registration software has been
of Portuguese architecture. For a long time the improved to take account of the rules set out in the
town was the seat of the royal residence, mostly boxed text at the beginning of this newsletter. The
during the reigns of the Portuguese monarchs in electronic registration form and the competition
the 15th and 16th centuries, especially that of John documents are in the process of being finalised, and
II (nicknamed ‘the Perfect Prince’, meaning ‘the will shortly be available from download on the same
tyrant’ with reference to the work of the Florentine website.
Machiavelli, because he brought the power of the In order to register, you will first of all have to create
nobility into his own hands and defended the your own account by choosing your own user-name
ordinary citizens against the nobility’s and password. After registering, you will receive an e-
extortionate behaviour). Other monarchs to reside mail giving you the link which will enable you to
in Évora were Manuel 1st (the Great or the activate your account and to access the registration
Wealthy) who continued to support Portuguese form. A demonstration of the registration process is
voyages of discovery and commercial monopolies, available on the website. The AEHT code, which
as well as John 3rd (the Pious). The town’s identifies the registering school, is the unique link
prestige reached its apogee in the 16th century between the registration software and the AEHT’s
when it was elevated to the rank of Ecclesiastical database. For security reasons (and to avoid duplicate
Metropolis. The town’s historic centre was given registrations) the programme will accept only one
UNESCO World Heritage classification in 1986. contact person (only one account) per school. It is
3. Fátima, one of the main sanctuaries of the cult of vital that when schools complete the pre-registration
the Virgin Mary. This little Portuguese town is process, they register students – even fictitious ones –
part of the city of Ourém in the Santarém district, for the competitions, in order to guarantee their
and became famous in 1917 when three young places. Changes can be made subsequently online.
shepherds claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary, Once you have registered you can download the
invoice proforma which appears in the margin of the
alone or in the presence of thousands of faithful,
same web page. After payment, the paper version of
on six occasions on the 13th of each month from
the invoice will be sent to you by post or will be
May to October 1917, except on August 19th when handed to you at the Conference.
the three local children had been put in prison by
the local administrator. Two of the children died The organisers will lay on free transfers between the
very young and were beatified by Pope John Paul Marriott hotel, where all the participants will be
2nd in 1989. Lucie Dos Santos took her vows and staying, and Lisbon airport and rail station, where
from 1946 resided in the Carmelite convent in students and teachers from the Lisbon hotel school or
Coimbra where she died in 2005 aged 97, leaving from partner schools will greet you with plaques
us her version of the Apparitions of the Virgin. bearing the AEHT insignia. For the return journey the
transfer dates and times will be posted in the foyer of
Some practical information about the 2010 the Marriott hotel.
Conference will soon be available on the organisers’
website at www.aehtlisboa2010.eu (also accessible The initially announced rates of the conference fees -
via a link from www.aeht.eu). €580 per student (sharing a double or three-bedded
room) and €720 per teacher – all increasing by 20%

Diekirch, April 2010 3 N°1/2010


after June 15th - were considered to be too expensive debate subjects of Europe-wide interest, to take part in
and are currently being renegotiated. These fees seminars, guided tours and social, cultural and
include all activities on the programme. The sporting activities. The number of places available to
registration deadline is September 25th 2010 – and we each country depends on the number of member
hope to see very many of you in Lisbon. schools in that country, and will be announced in the
official invitation to be sent out by the organisers after
At the beginning of March the Executive Board, the Easter. The application deadline will be in June.
Presidium, the Council of Elders and Competitions Participants must be fluent in at least one of the
Committee enjoyed a brief stay in Lisbon, but a stay AEHT’s two official languages. This parliament will
that was rich in emotions. The intention is that the be based on the Model United Nations used for the
spring meeting should allow the delegates to see for plenary sessions of the UN’s youth parliament.
themselves how preparations for the Annual
Conference are advancing. Other interesting subjects were discussed at the
Because of an extremely full agenda, the Presidium Executive Board meeting on March 6th. Detailed
was able to debate matters relating to the minutes of the meeting may be consulted on our
management and administration of the AEHT, such as website under the ‘Meetings and Reports’ rubric.
the forthcoming transfer of the AEHT’s financial
book-keeping to Bad Ischl and the opening of a new
bank account in Austria for the receipt of
subscriptions as from 2010. It was clearly stated that
the AEHT Head Office would remain in Luxembourg,
and would continue to receive a subsidy from the
Luxembourg Ministry of Education and Vocational
Training. Moreover Klaus Enengl, Louis Robert and
Adolf Steindl had submitted an application for EU
funding under the ‘Youth in Action’ programme,
requesting from the European Commission the means
to finance new activities, notably the AEHT’s Youth The Executive Board hard at work
Parliament. At the time of the meeting we were still
awaiting the European Commission’s response to our During our stay in Lisbon we were privileged to hold
application – and the rejection of the application our meetings and to have lunch at the Lisbon hotel
reached the AEHT Head Office on March 31st. The school. During our guided tour on Friday afternoon
applications for project funding are assessed against we could see for ourselves the highly successful
qualitative criteria (objectives of the programme, renovation of a 1927 building. All the classrooms and
geographic impact, quality, impact and cascading practical rooms were very well equipped and the staff
potential of the proposed activities, involvement of were extremely friendly and competent. We found the
young people in organising the activities) as well as students very disciplined and highly motivated, always
against quantitative criteria (scheduled activities, ready to ‘muck in’.
groups of activities involved, subjects covered, groups
of young people – especially those with limited
resources – and the number of countries involved).
Our application obtained only 58.9 marks out of 100,
whereas only those awarded 73.5 and above can
expect to receive any subsidy from the European
Union. The Executive Agency for Education, Media Sea bass in a pastry case with
and Culture emphasises that only a third of the sauted vegetables
applications (48 out of 148) were selected because of
a limited budget. The Presidium intends to refine its
application and to resubmit it at the end of 2010.
At the meeting we also finalised the arrangements for
the AEHT Youth Parliament, and these arrangements
were also presented to the subsequent Executive
Board meeting. The first session of the parliament will ‘D. Maria’ Dessert The kitchen and restaurant brigades from
be aimed at students aged 18 and above, and will take the Estoril hotel school
place in Bad Ischl from 26th to 31st October 2010. We
hope that 70 students will attend, to present and
Diekirch, April 2010 4 N°1/2010
Not only at the Lisbon and Estoril hotel schools but monastery, a UNESCO world heritage site which
also at the Marriott hotel and the five-star Olissippo houses among other things the tombs of the great
Lapa Palace, we experienced some unforgettable explorers.
gastronomic moments, during which we savoured a All this time spent in Lisbon convinced us that the
number of typical Portuguese dishes. next Annual Conference is being organised by a well
coordinated team consisting of officers from the
Turismo de Portugal agency as well as directors and
teachers from several Portuguese hotel schools. We
can be sure that this Conference will be a fine
demonstration of amazing national cooperation. We
should like to take this opportunity to thank all those
we met for taking up the challenge of organising this
conference a year earlier than scheduled.

The Lisbon Hotel School is fast becoming a centre of excellence

On Saturday afternoon the national representatives Klaus Enengl thanking Nuno Santos, Paulo Revés, Clara Freitas and
were finally able to set off to explore the old part of Alexandra Pereira
the city of Lisbon, an amazing treasure of monuments
We should also like to pay tribute to our dear
and tourist attractions. We will describe below just the
Hungarian National Representative and former
ones we were able to visit or admire.
Vice-President, Akos Sasvari from the Giorgio
The sun had finally swept away the rain of the
Perlasca school in Budapest, who has worked hard
previous two days, allowing us to walk from the Santa
for the AEHT, especially in organising events (a
Maria Maior Cathedral to the old Alfama district, one
total of seven) and in recruiting members in Eastern
of the few parts of the city to have survived the 1755
European countries. Moreover his school was the
earthquake, which was followed by a devastating
first from Eastern Europe to become a member of
tsunami and a terrible fire. We walked through St
our Association in 1992. As he himself put it so well
George’s castle, sitting atop the historic centre’s
recently, ‘In 1990 when I became director of my
highest hill and affording the visitors one of the finest
school, Hungarian hotel and tourism education had
views over the city and the Tagus estuary.
until then been cut off by the iron curtain and was in
urgent need of new ideas and experiences from
Western European countries. After a long search we
discovered the AEHT and quickly made contact with
them. We were lucky that the Association happened
to be in the process of opening up membership to
former communist countries - it saw the importance
of this well before the politicians’.
The Cathedral of Santa Maria Maior dating from 1150 (and Akos Sasvari will retire from his post at the end of this
subsequently greatly modified) and the famous 1732 Aguas Livres academic year, and we wish him well for his retirement.
(‘free waters’) Aqueduct which survived the 1755 earthquake

The reconstruction of the lower town which had


been completely devastated was directed by the
energetic Marquis of Pombal and carried out
according to antiseismic – earthquake-proof –
norms using appropriate materials. ‘Stricter’ blocks
of flats emerged to replace the devastated medieval
houses in the Baixa and Chiado districts, built along
streets which now intersect at right angles. Further
on arises the Belém Tower, the emblem of the city,
and the extraordinary 16th century Hieronymite Happy retirement Akos!

Diekirch, April 2010 5 N°1/2010


Teacher Placements in Hotels of the
ACCOR Group

On March 25th and 26th the ‘P.Artusi’ Vocational


Institute for Hotel Studies, located in the Province
of Ravenna, together with the ‘Terre di Faenza’
promotion company, ran its 18th international
Antonina Bolshakova from Olga Volodina from Petrovsky
culinary arts contest entitled ‘Il Piatto Verde’ (the Petrovsky College in St Petersburg College (2nd from the right, rear)
Green Plate). The specific theme for this year was carried out her placement in the together with the housekeeping staff
‘Energy from Herbs’ Ibis, Frankfurt City Messe of the Novotel Amsterdam City

The contest was aimed at students in their third Each year the AEHT, in close collaboration with the
year of culinary arts programmes in European ACCOR Group, organises professional placements
hotel schools. The event attracted participants for teachers. What is it about? Firstly Stéphanie
from 12 schools, eight Italian schools and four Lausecker, an assistant in the ACCOR Hotels
from outside Italy, including nine AEHT member Human Resources Directorate, sends out a letter to
schools. The four countries represented were the hotels of the group, asking them to host teachers
Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany and Italy. from AEHT member schools for professional
placements lasting one or two weeks. A number of
The event aimed to encourage the study of the use hotels agree to participate in the scheme.
of aromatic herbs and to encourage students’
professional confidence, while facilitating These placements can take place in one of the
meetings between students and teachers from following departments: Reception/Rooms Division;
different regions and from different sociocultural Housekeeping and Room Service; F&B; Restaurant;
backgrounds, as well as the exchange of and Group Services/Commercial Relations. This
knowledge, experience and working methods. information is available in a document published at
www.zshg.waw.ids.pl/aeht_accor_gl.html, and this
This year all the winners called to the platform to site is also accessible via a link from the AEHT’s
receive prizes were Italians: website. Thus an initial list of placement offers was
published at the beginning of March by our ACCOR
The First Prize was awarded to placements organiser, Magdalena Waglowska-
Mattia Pesarin from the ISS ‘P.
Krzciuk from the Warsaw Hotel School:
Artusi’ in Forlimpopoli for his
‘Tower of green asparagus with Zespół Szkół Hotelarsko-Turystyczno-
Parmesan mousse, Gastronomicznych Nr 1
squacquerone (an Italian cream ul. Krasnołęcka 3, PL-00-734 Warsaw
cheese) and wild spinach with a Fax: (48) 22 840 48 97 - E-mail: aehtaccor@wp.pl .
pesto of dried tomatoes, wild
garlic oil and lovage.
The Second Prize was won by
Matteo Dimiziani from the
IIS ‘V. Gioberti’ in Rome for his
‘Pear Delight with a
squacquerone and mint heart on
a redcurrant coulis.
In Third Place came Antonio
Meneghin from the IPSSAR ‘D.
Dolomieu’ in Longarone (BL) Anna Szałek, a teacher at the Warsaw hotel school ’Zespół Szkół
for his Yoghurt with herbs and Hotelarsko-Turystyczno-Gastronomicznych Nr 1’, on placement in 2007
sweetmeats’. at the Ibis hotel London Wembley

A teacher who wishes to take part in such a


placement (as long as the selected placement is still
available) should download the application pack

Diekirch, April 2010 6 N°1/2010


from the above-mentioned website; the completed
and signed documents should then be sent as soon as
THIS AND THAT
possible, together with a letter of application and News from AEHT Members
official authorisation, to Magdalena Waglowska-
Krzciuk. For placements in Germany or Austria, 1. Switzerland – the birthplace of tourism and a
applications should be submitted in English. Mrs
Waglowska-Krzciuk will let you know as quickly as country which boasts many institutions teaching
possible whether you have been accepted for the hospitality and tourism studies
requested placement. At the end of the placement,
participants should send to Magdalena Waglowska-
Marc-Etienne Gartmann, the AEHT’s Swiss
Krzciuk the evaluation sheet together with the
National Representative, kindly agreed to be inter-
expenses claim including the relevant receipts. We
viewed by Louis Robert and Nadine Schintgen, who
would welcome any photos and articles, which may
happened to be travelling in Switzerland. Marc-
be published in our Newsletter. Once the documents
Etienne Gartmann is also the President of the Swiss
have been checked, the AEHT Head Office will make
Hotel Schools Association (Association suisse des
the necessary reimbursement, which is a maximum
Ecoles hôtelières, ASEH) and Vice-President of the
per participant of €200, from which we deduct an
Swiss Tourism and Hospitality School (SSTH) and
administrative charge of €80. The following
Director of the Professional School for Applied
countries are exempt from this administrative
Sciences in Chur, Switzerland’s oldest city.
charge: Albania, Belarus, Bosnia-Herzegovina,
Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro, Russia, Serbia
and the Ukraine. The arrangements offered by the
ACCOR group are still the same: free lodging and
all meals taken in the staff canteen

Arosa – a famous ski resort Marc Gartmann – our


Gregor Silc from the Bled Hotel School, Slovenia, on placement in which owes its success to its correspondent in Switzerland
2009 at the Ibis Hotel in Zurich policies of sustainable
development; it is located in the
mountains above the
In view of the limited number of places available in Passugg/Chur Campus
2010, we hope that they will all be taken. Don’t
hesitate, apply now! How did the SSTH come into being?
The school was founded as a result of a private
Just a reminder that to find the cheapest airfares for initiative. In 1966 Dr Markus Christoffel set up a
a given destination, you can go to school for hotel administration to meet the region’s
www.momando.com. To find out which low-cost needs for hotel secretaries. Three years later higher
airlines fly to this destination, use the search engine level programmes were added, as well as tourism
provided by www.flylc.com. courses in 1979.
How has it come about that your school has been a
leader, both nationally and internationally, over the
last 40 or so years?
Switzerland has an outstanding worldwide reputation
as the birthplace of tourism and as a country that
excels at education. Many famous international figures
in the fields of economics and politics have carried out
a part of their training here. Many young people come
to study hospitality here because of this international

Diekirch, April 2010 7 N°1/2010


reputation for excellence which is explained both by a professional training (‘Berufsbildung’), usually in the
high quality professional training with a practical hotel sector, or who already have their baccalaureate.
orientation, and also by the good reputation of the There are two departments, one in which teaching
Lausanne hotel school, which has been in existence for takes place in German, the other in which classes are
more than a hundred years. taught in English.
What was the determining factor during your youth
which led you to take up your present role of Vice-
President of the SSTH and of Director of the College
of Applied Science?
I have always been interested in the international
context, and in addition I grew up in a tourist area,
Arosa, close to Chur, where I was in constant contact High-quality teaching provided in a high-quality environment
with hoteliers. However, my studies were in a
completely different field – psychology, ethnology and However, a proportion of the students following initial
Germanic philology. After that I worked in vocational training intend to become non-specialised
humanitarian projects before working for schools, employees in the hotel sector. They learn to work in
which I’ve now been doing for more than 20 years. food preparation, in restaurant service, housekeeping
For the last 11 years I’ve been working for the SSTH and reception. In the Grisons canton a number of
school, which I joined as a teacher. I began there as small hotel business in fact need multi-skilled staff
director of a professional training department who are able to operate in all the departments.
(‘berufsbildende Schulabteilung’) in Chur and for the
last six years I’ve been the director of the Professional Moreover we offer a training programme for Tourism
HE Institution. Before coming to Chur I had already Agents (‘Tourismuskaufmann’) intended for students
been director of a school, and I moved from being who want to work later on in a travel agency or in a
director of an ordinary school to being director of a tourist office.
Professional HE Institution. The fact that we take on Here on the Passugg campus we train future Hoteliers
both local and international students makes my job and Restaurateurs to HF level (Höhere Fachschule).
particularly fascinating and interesting. At present I The ES conference is currently trying to have this degree
do not have time to teach classes, but I run seminars changed into a Bachelor in Hospitality. It is a tertiary-
on techniques for writing final-year dissertations and level programme at level 5b according to the ISCED
on presentation skills etc. (International Standard Classification of Education,
validated by UNESCO in 1997), a non-university
How does it come about that the SSTH occupies a qualification at a higher vocational level.
spa hotel?
At first we were in a hotel in Chur which did not
belong to us and in which we had rented several
rooms. When the hotel in Passugg became available,
we had the idea of teaching hotel studies in a hotel.
Furthermore we were short of space in our hall of
residence at the time, and the Passugg campus
provided us with enough space both for the school and
for the hall of residence. Today the building belongs to
a joint-stock company; until last year the main
shareholder was the late Mr Stefan Schörghuber, the
owner of the ArabellaSheraton hotels in Germany.
And now his wife has taken over as managing director
of the company.
Beat Wicki – Managing Director Marc-Etienne Gartmann with his
What training programmes are offered at the SSTH? of the SSTH with Louis Robert interviewers
Nowadays the institution is home to five different and Marc-Etienne Gartmann
schools, including two vocational schools, one (from left to right)
specialising in hospitality, the other in tourism,
Following the adoption of the new law on vocational
accepting students aged between 16 and 19. The
training in Swiss HE Institutions, the schools’ courses
College of Applied Science is a post-secondary (but are now based on a specific training programme for each
non-university) vocational school, which accepts only professional branch. For the hotelier/restaurateur
students who already have professional experience or branch the Study Framework Plan has been drawn up by
Diekirch, April 2010 8 N°1/2010
the training providers and by organisations representing
the world of work, and was introduced in October 2008.
The new feature of this is that from now on the training is
based on the competences which a hotelier must posses.
All Swiss HE hotel and restaurant schools must follow
the plan and adapt or create their curricula according to
it. This Study Framework Plan was validated in March
2009 by the OFFT (Office fédéral de la formation
More than 40 nationalities are represented at the SSTH
professionnelle et de la technologie – Federal Office for
Professional Training and Technology) and the SSTH in Since March 2006 you have also been president of the
Chur was the first Swiss school to thus adapt its training ASEH. How did you come to take on this role?
programme, which was lodged with the OFFT in June At the time of the elections I had been on the Executive
2009. For a period of three years this programme will be Board for a year. My predecessor was not eligible to
tested out and monitored by OFFT experts. If all goes stand again because he had already completed two
well, we will obtain a new accreditation after this pilot mandates. The new president needed to be familiar with
phase. both Swiss and foreign schools, and the fact that the
SSTH is the only member school involved in both
This programme will prepare students for positions in
national and international activities was certainly a
‘middle management’ and for this reasons we chose to
factor in my election. I was very pleased with the
provide a complete training programme starting from
outcome, because it is very interesting to interact with
basics. In other words every student must follow a other schools rather than staying cloistered in one’s own
training course in cooking, service, etc., in order to learn
school.
how those departments operate and to be able to instruct
and guide others. It is only in the third year (the first What are the ASEH’s objectives, and what are its
university cycle) that they will begin to learn about hotel differences and similarities with the AEHT?
management, marketing, finance, intercultural The main objective, and the reason for the ASEH’s
competences etc. creation, was the quality control of its member
Will you one day offer a Bachelor degree (three years schools. In Switzerland anyone can quite easily open
after A-level) in Chur? their own school. For this reason, some of them run
Since we are a higher vocational school of non-university shady businesses, mostly recruiting their students from
level, we are not allowed to offer Bachelor-level training abroad without offering good-quality training. This
programmes; this privilege is exclusively reserved for practice has a detrimental effect on the reputation of
prestigious Higher Education institutes. Despite this all Swiss schools. So we have set out 120 quality
restriction, we do have an ‘In-house-Bachelor’, which we criteria which a school has to fulfil before joining the
run in collaboration with Queen Margaret University in ASEH. All these schools are inspected every four
Edinburgh (Scotland). To obtain this Bachelor, the years. Thus there is an ongoing process to ensure a
students just have to complete an additional study year in certain standard.
our school or in Edinburgh and to pass their exams.
These quality criteria are of three different types:
We also have an agreement with the University of academic, professional and infrastructural. Please
Delaware, but in this case the students have to relocate could you elaborate a little?
to the United States in order to obtain their Bachelor. There are several systems for the quality control of the
academic aspects, e.g. the NEASC system (New
Professionally speaking, what achievement are you England Association of Schools and Colleges) which
particularly proud of today? are mainly international quality label systems. At
The adaptation of the Study Framework Plans carried national level such systems do not exist, especially not
out over recent years, and the international dimension for the hotel schools with HE programmes. We have
which we have acquired here in Chur – both of these
noticed that in the case of new schools, usually the
achievements are remarkable. At present 220 students
shortcomings are in the area of the infrastructure.
are enrolled at our institution, and there are more than
40 different nationalities working side by side. Our hall Some schools set up their operation in former hotels
of residence, with 130 bedrooms and 176 beds, is full. without making the necessary alterations, whereas
they need to modify the kitchen and bedrooms to
enable them to be used for educational purposes.

Diekirch, April 2010 9 N°1/2010


For school buildings and classrooms, does
Switzerland have standards which have to be
followed?
There are only a few norms to be observed, including
the minimum surface area of a classroom which is two
square metres per student. The Swiss federation does
not carry out checks on this, and when there is a
serious accident, the owner usually shuts up shop and
disappears.
Problems also arise from the fact that education is not
centralised, but is governed at the level of the canton.
Thus Switzerland has 26 different education systems,
« Each graduate must be able to
and it is difficult to have an overall view of them. Some carry out the most basic of
cantons carry out stringent checks, while others are practical tasks »
rather laid back.
Students with the traditional baccalaureate who want
Are all the Swiss hotel schools offering HE to enrol for a Higher Education programme at a hotel
programmes members of the ASEH? school do not need to catch up on the lower-level
The private hotel schools of Lausanne and les Roches- courses, but they have to have worked for a year in the
Glion ceased to be members when they received hospitality profession. Their programme includes two
accreditation as specialised HE institutes years of taught courses followed by a year’s
(universities). The Roches-Glion school belongs to the professional placement. Obliging the students to work
American Laureate group, a conglomerate of 50 for a year in the hotel profession before they enrol
universities across the world. Since their accreditation gives them the opportunity of finding out, before they
these two schools have ceased to be active on the begin their studies, whether the profession really is for
national scene and operate internationally. The them.
Roche-Glion school now uses the American network
and no longer applies the ASEH’s quality criteria. In terms of Bologna classification, the ‘diploma for
Theses schools no longer trade on the excellence of hoteliers and restaurateurs’ counts as ISCED level 5b
Swiss education, but have become commercially- (UNESCO’s International Standard Classification of
orientated institutions. Education) - level 5a corresponds to the same level but
involves considerably more practical work. Once they
So what becomes of specialism such as culinary arts have been awarded this qualification students can
and food service, etc? continue their studies on a BA or MA programme. An
We can assume that sooner or later these schools will ‘Executive Master’ can be undertaken only after five
no longer offer teaching in these areas. years of professional practice in a managerial role,
while our students may be awarded a BA after
In Europe and everywhere else, fewer and fewer
completing one additional year. It is at this point that
people are given basic professional training, and
academic pathways are added.
more and more are trained as managers. Do we
really need so many managers? Which schools are currently members of the ASEH?
When people study at university they acquire They are exclusively Higher Education institutions
theoretical knowledge, but they are no longer recognised by the Swiss Confederation. There are
employable in practical situations. My view is that twelve of them:
hotels need fewer people with masters degrees, and - Schweizerische Hotelfachschule Luzern
that too many people are overqualified while still - Ecole hôtelière de Genève ‘ ES ‘
unable to carry out the most basic of practical tasks. - Belvoirpark Hotelfachschule Zürich – HF
Consequently, university graduates are obliged to add - Hotelfachschule Thun
practical placements to their long university courses, - HIM - Hotel Institute Montreux
so that they can really know how the hospitality - Institut hôtelier ‘César Ritz’, Le Bouveret
industry works. For this reason we decided to adopt a - SSTH - Swiss School of Tourism and
different approach and first of all to train our students Hospitality, Chur
in the practical tasks before providing them with - SHMS – Swiss Hotel Management School,
middle management training. Caux/Montreux
- University Centre ‘César Ritz’, Brig-Glis

Diekirch, April 2010 10 N°1/2010


- DCT University Center, Hospitality In the ASEH’s annual report it is pointed out that the
Leadership & European Culinary Arts, trainees from the 12 member schools carried out in
Vitznau 2008 the equivalent in working hours of 1000 full-
- IHTTI, School of Hotel Management, time posts. An outsider might suppose that the
Neuchâtel employers’ association is represented in the ASEH
- Scuola superiore alberghiere e del Turismo, only in order to have access to a cheap and highly
Bellinzona qualified work-force. What is the situation here?
The schools in Caux/Leysin, Neufchâtel and Montreux There are some hotel chains, mostly the large chains,
belong to the same group. They provide relatively which certainly see things this way. However, these
traditional professional training, and we need more of businesses do have an obligation to provide training
this. We also need more trained department heads and for the placement students. Their role in this respect is
restaurant managers. checked by the schools, but it is still a delicate matter.
Following their decision to make a considerable It is not always useful to carry out a year-long
reduction in the numbers of their partnerships, the placement in a five-star hotel where the students take
Swish Hoteliers Association left the ASEH. On the on the relevant role only at the end of their placement.
other hand our membership includes two other In our school we recommend more productive
professional associations: ‘GastroSuisse’ and the placements, in which the management trainees spend
‘Hotel & Gastro Union’, which represent the periods of five weeks in each of the departments, five
employers and the employees respectively. They have weeks in the kitchen, then five weeks in food service,
a consultative role and are represented on our Board. then with F&B control and finally at reception and in
Why is the Lausanne hotel school not a member of marketing. Thus at the end of their placements the
the ASEH? students will have learnt about every aspect of the
This school has just been granted the status of business. Usually the professional placement takes
‘specialist higher education institution’ and is thus the place over one uninterrupted period, but it may be
only specialised HE establishment or university in the divided into two placement periods or take place in
field of hospitality studies in the whole of Switzerland. two difference businesses.
This school therefore enjoys a different status from
that of the ASEH member schools.
Do all the member schools have the same
curriculum?
Six of them, all recognised Higher Education
institutions - Geneva, Thun, Lucerne, Zurich, Chur et
Bellinzona – provide a curriculum agreed by the
professional associations and by the Swiss Federal
The professional placement – an
Office for Professional Training and Technology, important component of the programme
(OFFT). For the most part the curriculum at the other of study at the SSTH
schools is based on programmes of foreign
universities: they teach in English and usually have Are placement students paid in Switzerland?
accreditation from NEASC (New England Association The legal minimum rate of pay for placement students
of Schools and Colleges) or work directly with is 2,100 Swiss francs per month, from which the cost
universities – as is the case with the Chur/Passugg of board and lodging is deducted – this might be as
school. For its curriculum taught in German, our much as 900 Swiss francs per month. In Switzerland
school follows the OFFT regulations, whereas its the minimum monthly salary for an unqualified worker
English-taught programme closely follows those of – such as a washer-up – is the equivalent of 3,400
foreign universities. The two programmes are similar, Swiss francs.
but there are areas of difference: for example in the It is a shame that only two ASEH schools are
German-taught programme we teach mostly Swiss represented in the AEHT. Is it not in their interest to
law, while in the English-taught programme it is have contacts with other European schools?
essentially international law that is taught. These HE establishments are likely to show more
The German-taught programme is subsidized by the interest following the creation of the HE group within
state, and a Swiss or foreign student pays tuition fees the AEHT. I should point out that these are not
of only 1500 Swiss francs per semester, while the secondary schools like those in Italy. Students enrol at
English-taught programme of study costs 12,500 Swiss 22, and finish their studies when they are 25 or 26
francs per semester both for Swiss and for foreign years old. The situation is similar to that of the
students. German schools.

Diekirch, April 2010 11 N°1/2010


- News from Martins Kupecs
What would make the AEHT more attractive to
them? It would certainly be interesting to offer more Martins Kupecs, a graduate of the ‘Riga Food
practical tasks in our competitions. What do you Producers Vocational School’, won the special
think? pastry prize for his individual performance at the
We could ask them to work with case studies, for Killarney Annual Conference in 2006. He is 24
example drawing up a business plan or carrying out a years old and currently works in a pastry shop in
business game, arranging the tables for a banquet, Riga, the capital of Latvia.
setting up purchase orders, or dealing with problems
that require marketing skills, for example creating a 1. In 2006, you won the special pastry prize for your
product and designing the necessary marketing individual performance at the AEHT Annual
campaign. Conference in Killarney. How did you prepare
for this competition? What are your most vivid
You have offered to host the AEHT’s Higher memories of this event? Did winning this contest
Education group in Chur. How will this work? have an effect on your professional and personal
The programme will be drawn up by AEHT officers. I life and on your personality?
plan to give a presentation of the blueprint of the I worked very hard to prepare for that contest. It was
curriculum for Swiss HE institutions offering a very fruitful experience for me. I believe that
hospitality programmes together with the competences competitions such as this motivate students to train
which we need to teach. I will also speak about how seriously and enable them to perfect their skills.
this blueprint will be implemented in our programme Winning this prize made me realize that you can
of studies. We will also be very interested in achieve a lot of things in life, but that you have to
exchanging views with representatives of the other believe in yourself and throw yourself into the task.
participating countries. The seminar is intended for It’s a shame that I am no longer in touch with the
directors and teachers rather than for students. other competitors, but I would like to get in touch
The dates of the seminar coincide with the ‘Food with them just to talk about our experiences and to
Festival’, the culmination of a year-long project see how they are and what they are doing five years
carried out by Swiss and foreign students who are on.
following the management strand. During their year-
long course of study they have one afternoon per week
to organise this festival, to take place on May 1st for a
period of about six hours; it will attract around 2000
guests, and the students are responsible for every
aspect of it: publicity (on the radio, through
brochures, etc), the shuttle bus which carries visitors
every 15 minutes between Chur and the Passugg
campus, etc. Enormous quantities of ingredients will
be used to prepare the food, and a budget of around
100,000 Swiss francs is needed (just covering the Best individual performance in the Hard at work during the contest
pastry competition
costs). Entrance to the festival costs 30 Swiss francs,
and dishes are free at most of the food stands. You are 2. What is your view today of the AEHT and its
warmly invited to register for the Higher Education Annual Conference? Did you feel the European
seminar which will take place on April 30th and May spirit at the Killarney Conference? Did this
1st this year. experience open up new horizons for you? Did it
encourage you to pursue training opportunities
2. News from our Competition Winners abroad?
The main advantage of the AEHT and its Annual
At the suggestion of Mary Owens, a former AEHT Conference is that it gives personal and professional
Vice-President, we have created this section to enrichment to the students. This type of competition
include reports from competition winners on how the enables students to demonstrate their ideas to a
AEHT experience has influenced their personal and large public, to improvise and to produce creations
professional development, and the careers which like real artists. However, this experience did not
may have opened up to them following their have any direct effect in opening up new
performances at the Annual Conferences professional horizons for me
.

Diekirch, April 2010 12 N°1/2010


3. Have you won any other medals at international
competitions?
3.Restolingua – a highly effective tool for
In 2008 I competed in the ‘COPPA EUROPA di translating menus
PASTICERIA’ – the European pastry trophy in www.restolingua.com currently enables users to
Rome – in which ten countries were represented; translate any professional menu into the following
there I won third place. eight languages: Chinese, Dutch, English, French,
German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish.
Restolingua is currently seeking schools willing to
coordinate the work of translating the 22,000
expressions into all the languages of the AEHT
member countries which are not yet available, and to
add expressions relating to regional specialities,
dishes and ingredients. With your collaboration, all
menus could be translated with no problems – as for
example the menu of the dinner served to the AEHT
Executive Board on March 6th 2010 at the Lapa
Palace in Lisbon.
The complete Latvian team at the European Martins Kupecs with
Pastry Championship in Rome in 2008 some of his creations

4. What are your plans for the future?


This year I’ve registered for a number of workshops
which will certainly be important for my continuing
professional development. It will definitely help me
in achieving my long-term goal of one day opening
my own pastry shop. My only dream is to be able to
spend my whole life doing this job which I adore.

Dinner in the Sala Columbano of the Lapa Palace – Lisbon

Entrado :
- Sopa rica de peixe com crosta de massa folhada
Prato :
Leitão assado com grelos salteados ao alho e puré de
batata doce
Sobremesa :
Tarte de queijo com frutos marinados em vinho tinto
Johnny Carroll (IRL), a member of the judging panel and former
teacher at the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, congratulates Café & Mignardises
Martins Kupecs
Vinhos
5. What are the most important qualities for a chef? Quinta Casal Branco, branco – Ribatejo
What recommendations and advice would you Monte da Cal, tinto - Alentejo
give to aspiring pastry chefs?
To become a good chef, first you must like your work
as well as those who work with you. In addition to
these social skills, you need excellent professional
knowledge and a high degree of skills, as well as the
ability to pass on your knowledge to your
colleagues. If I were to offer advice to students, I
would tell them to learn as much as they can from
their chefs, and to exchange ideas with Europe’s
most gifted professionals. Fish soup in puff pastry crust

Diekirch, April 2010 13 N°1/2010


Restolingua provided the following English
translation:
Starter:
Fish soup in puff pastry crust
Main Course:
Roasted suckling pig
with garlic sautéed turnip tops
and sweet potatoes purée
Dessert:
Cheesecake Lisbon style with red wine marinated fruit
Coffee and Mignardises
Wines:
Quinta Casal Branco, white – Ribatejo
Monte da Cal, red - Alentejo
If you are interested in working with Restolingua,
please contact directly the Restolingua director Paul
R.A.J. Van den Heuvel or the Head of Operations
(Paul’s wife), Arike Vermazen (email :
arike.vermazen@gmail.com) and look at the rates
and the agreement signed by the AEHT and
Restolingua at www.aeht.eu.

Best wishes, and we look forward to seeing you in


Lisbon - Bem-vindo a Lisboa!

Nadine SCHINTGEN
AEHT General Secretary

Text: N. Schintgen with contributions from L.


Robert
Photos: N. Schintgen, the organisers of the Riolo
Terme event and some AEHT teachers
English translation : J. Rees Smith

Our Professional Partners :

Diekirch, April 2010 14 N°1/2010

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