WITH the growing demand in hospitality industry, Dusit International is collaborating with Switzerland’s École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL) and France’s Institut Paul Bocuse to build Dusit Hospitality Management College (DHMC), the first international hospitality-management school in the country dedicated to honing the next generation of world-class hoteliers and restaurateurs with a certified degree for international recognition.
In two years the ongoing construction of a 26-story building at Mini Parkway of Bonifacio Global City in Taguig will house a world-class hospitality-management college, which, according to Ron Hilvert, DHMC managing director, will set students “on the path to a successful professional international career.”
“Filipinos are known to be one of the most hospitable and talented people in the world, and we want to bring them a school that meets global standards.
“A collaboration of this magnitude can change the hospitality industry,” Hilvert said during the media launch on Thursday, which was also attended by Khun Suphajee Suthumpun, group CEO of Dusit International. Suthumpun said they believe in providing the kind of education where students are rooted in the environment they will eventually work in.
“We’re ready to launch the next generation of Filipino world-class hoteliers and restaurateurs. Our future alumni will set the new standards for the industry, whether they work in the Philippines or abroad,” she said. DHMC will be fully integrated with dusitD2, a contemporary diffusion hotel line of Dusit International, where students will have the benefit of training at an international hotel.
Evelyn Singson, president and vice chairman of the Philippine Hoteliers Inc. (PHI), said the project entails P1.5 billion, wherein PHI owns 40 percent of the school, while 60 percent is owned by Filipino shareholders.
The Filipino shareholders, she said, are former Sen. Manny Villar and his wife Sen. Cynthia Villar through Vistaland; U-Bix CEO Bert Bravo; former Union Bank President and COO Victor Valdepenas; Regent Foods Corp. President and CEO Ricky See; and Allan C. Tajanlangit through his ACT-Construction. DMHC is the first of its kind to be integrated with the modern lifestyle dusitD2 brand, giving students the ongoing opportunity to be developed as extraordinary hoteliers and restaurateurs. Hilvert said the partnership they have in place with the renowed EHL for their undergraduate and executive education programs with Institut Paul Bocuse for their professional culinary and food-beverage courses, also “demonstrate our commitment to deliver only the very best.”
EHL, created in 1893, is the first hospitality school in the world. EHL provides top-quality, world-class education within four university-level programs. An ambassador of Swiss hospitality tradition, EHL has established one of the largest and most dynamic professional networks of alumni around the world.
Institut Paul Bocuse is known worldwide for combining tradition and innovation of the art of French hospitality and cuisine. The highest standrards are implemented to train the future generations of gastronomy, food service and research for an international clientele.
“As we move forward and as soon as we receive our Commission on Higher Education accreditation, now under progress, we will be able to provide you with more details of our innovative college,” Hilvert noted. Singson said the building is designed by Arch. William Coscolluela and commissioned by the Lica Group, while the interiors have been awarded by the Dusit group to a Bangkok-based design company called The Beaumont Partnership.
The 10 floors of the building will be dedicated to the school, seven floors to dusitD2 hotel and nine floors to serviced apartments. On the top floor will be the recreational area.