Raffles Education to set up Swiss hotel training school
SINGAPORE – Raffles Education has bought a 62-room hotel in Switzerland as part of a plan to set up a hospitality management school in that country, marking its maiden entry into Europe.
SINGAPORE – Raffles Education has bought a 62-room hotel in Switzerland as part of a plan to set up a hospitality management school in that country, marking its maiden entry into Europe.
Raffles Education, one of Asia’s largest private education providers, said today (Sept 18) it will pay 29.12 million Swiss francs (S$39.3 million) for the 12,000sqm site in Nendaz, Switzerland on which the hotel and two other buildings sit.
The two buildings contain teaching rooms, dormitory facilities and a canteen as well as a basketball court and lawns that will be used for a hospitality management school.
“College students around the world can intern at the hotel, providing them with invaluable experience of a hospitality internship. The effect of this pool of newly trained talent will cascade down to meet the human capital needs of the hospitality industry and set in motion the cycle of enhancing student intake across the group’s colleges,” Raffles Education said in a statement.
Mr Chew Hua Seng, Raffles Education’s chairman and CEO, described the purchase as a significant milestone as it marks the firm’s first foray into the European market.
The facilities in Nendaz, Switzerland will provide the firm with opportunities to implement other initiatives such as setting up a design school as well as a Swiss International Baccalaureate School, he added.
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