ABOUT CESAR RITZ :
1982 Creation of "Hotelconsult Management Company" and opening of the first college, the «Schulhotel Alpina» in Brig, State of Valais, by Dr. Wolfgang D. Petri.

1983 Opening of the second institute, the «Schulhotel Zillwald» in the health resort of Lax, in Valais.

1985 Transfer agreements are signed with several state universities in the United States, Europe and Australia.

The first Bachelor programme in hotel management in Switzerland is launched in co-operation with Washington State University (WSU), Pullman, WA, USA (2+2 years).

1986 Opening of the Institut Hôtelier «César Ritz» in Le Bouveret, State of Valais, on the shores of Lake Geneva.

1991 Launch of the first hotel management postgraduate diploma programme in Switzerland.

1992 First US Bachelor degree in hotel management in Switzerland in collaboration with the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

1992 Creation of the ICHA Foundation and opening of the International College of Hospitality Administration in Brig.

Opening of the International College of Hospitality Management «César Ritz», the first and only Swiss hotel school in the USA, located in Suffield, Connecticut.

1996 The International College of Tourism & Hotel Management in Sydney, Australia opened with the «César Ritz» programme.

1997 US Bachelor degree delivered in partnership with Washington State University, WSU.

1997 Swiss Government authorities approve use of the name "University" for ICHA. The college is renamed University Centre «César Ritz» (UCCR).

2000 The first Master of Science in International Hospitality Management is launched in Switzerland at University Centre «César Ritz», in co-operation with Manchester Metropolitan University, UK.

2002 «César Ritz» Colleges Switzerland enrolls its 10.000th student.

2003 Recognition by the State of Valais, Switzerland of the Bachelor of International Business Degree and the Master of Business Administration in Hotel and Tourism Management offered at University Centre «César Ritz»,

MISSION :
Today's global, competitive business environment is in need of highly qualified managers and leaders. The complexity of managing services in a multicultural and international environment demands talented, appropriately educated and trained young individuals.

It is their responsibility to be knowledgeable of the needs of the hospitality industry of today and to prepare their students to lead this very demanding and fast growing economic sector into the future.

They believe that the future manager in the hospitality industry needs to master the following competencies:

To be professional
They are inspired by the uncompromising professionalism displayed by the 'king of hoteliers and the hotelier of kings', César Ritz, the founder of The Ritz and Ritz-Carlton hotels. The future manager needs to learn professional skills and gain relevant practical experience in order to set high standards for all his employees. Theoretical knowledge only is not good enough for this industry.

To be international and multicultural
There is no other profession requiring talents for dealing with all sorts of different cultures and languages than the hospitality industry. This industry welcomes guests from all corners of the world and hotel staff need to make clients feel at home in their hotel. Nowadays employees are becoming more and more diverse, especially within the major International hotel chains.

To be entrepreneurial
Without a solid business plan, strategies, management and controls, any business will fail. It is their mission to teach their students the best business practice and at the same time instill a sense of innovation and creativity into the minds of their students.

To care
Within the hotel industry all stakeholders must be taken care of to ensure sustainable success: the guests need to be considered individually, by caring staff who understand their requirements, the owners need to generate profits to enable them to make further investments, the employees desire for advancement in their careers has to be considered, and lastly the environment needs to be protected to ensure a successful quality of life.

They are fully committed to the above values and, with over 10'000 graduates, they know how this concept is valued by their former students and the international hospitality industry, which is very keen to employ their graduates.

They look forward to welcoming you to the 'César Ritz family' - where the spirit of excellence is still alive.