HSMAI Europe Student Council

The HSMAI Europe Student Council is a student driven initiative that puts students’ needs at the centre of its operations. It is the first hospitality student council across the borders of hotel business schools & universities. With this council, we help hospitality business schools and their students build a network beyond their usual scope, stimulate the students’ professional growth, and create a sense of belonging within our magnificent hospitality industry. The council is one of the many benefits that come with the HSMAI Europe Organizational Membership for Universities.

Students meet on a monthly basis to discuss what is currently happening at their schools and act upon these trends. Additionally, these meetings form the bases for all of their activities, including:

• The HSMAI Europe Student Survey which aims to help overcome the industry’s challenge of attracting talent and raise the profile of the industry.
• Hospitality Unlocked: a HSMAI Europe event organised by students, for students, with the coaching of HSMAI senior members
• HSMAI Europe events organised by more senior members of HSMAI Europe, e.g. the Revenue Optimisation Conference (ROC), the HSMAI Europe Bi-annual Curate, and HSMAI Europe Local events

“The hospitality industry will need to rely on emotional and artificial intelligence to manage complex environments, reinvent models, and be committed to a sustainable world. To provide students with the best tailor-made experience and the necessary skills to succeed in their career and in life, we need to embrace the best of both the ‘real’ and ‘virtual’ worlds in our educational methods. Therefore, the connection with key industry players is more important than ever. HSMAI Europe is helping the industry connect the dots between hospitality professionals, future leaders and academic institutions.”

– Valérie De Corte
Global Alliance & Partnership Director at Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne

“We strongly believe that students can bring value to the discussions about the future of the hospitality industry. Some challenges ahead are totally new, and only collaboration among generations will help us succeed together.”

– Kentia Boulay, MBA, MSc
Director Post Experience Programs at ESSEC Business School

HSMAI has set, in discussion with the students, the following goals for the student council:

• Strengthen the bridge between students and professionals: provide students the opportunity to exchange ideas with professionals, make an impact in our industry, and boost their communication skills
• Create opportunities for students to stand out, develop, and grow: through our activities, student council representatives and their peers will be presented with new opportunities to gain exposure and grow their network
• Three council members acting as a lever to create a ripple effect: three student council representatives from each school actively promote their school’s brand across Europe and invite other students to join the events they host

We are proud the call the following universities the founding partners of the HSMAI Europe Student Council: ESSEC Business School, Ecole Hotelière de Lausanne, Swiss Hotelschool Luzern, Breda University of Applied Sciences, Hotel Management School Maastricht and NOVA School of Business & Economics, Portugal.

Do you want to join us? Feel free to reach out to postbox@hsmai.eu.