Tourism students at the Montreux International Tourism Forum

The Montreux International Tourism Forum is the leading tourism industry event in western Switzerland where tourism professionals discuss trends and the development of tourism in Switzerland. For the second year in a row, the School of Management took an active part in the discussions. In addition, its third-year Tourism students held a workshop on service design. A valuable experience for these Bachelor students.

Photo credit: MITF l Emmanuel Fragnière, Professor UAS whose 3rd-year students with the Service Design Option participated in the forum. From right to left: Hugo Motthier, Fiona Schaad and Jordan Paronitti.

A valuable experience  

"I would have loved to take part in both days of the Forum," said Nina Baumgartner, a 3rd-year tourism student. She immediately seized this opportunity to show industry professionals how to use service design to integrate sustainable elements into the customer journey of the tourists. "Such events are also part of our studies, just like lectures." 

Photo credit: MITF l Loïc Le Deunff, a 3rd-year Tourism student, answers the questions of a tourism expert from Liechtenstein. «He had never heard of Service Design. Our presentation quickly became a constructive and mutually enriching exchange.»

Where students and experts meet  

What impressed the students the most? "The presence of high-level professionals who contribute their knowledge and expertise to address the challenges of the sector and provide new food for thought," explained Hugo Motthier, a tourism student with Service Design and Business eXperience options. He further explained: "The topics addressed were relevant and current. This event gave us a comprehensive picture of the issues the industry is facing." The event was also an excellent opportunity for the 30 students to network with industry professionals.

"It is important that students attend events like this that deal with issues that will shape their future careers. I'm pleased to see that the new generation is innovative and willing to look at things from a different perspective."  
Jean-Marc Imhof, Slow Food Travel Project Designer.

Photo credit: MITF l From left to right: Loïc Le Deunff, a Tourism student at the HES-SO Valais-Wallis, Jean-Marc Imhof, Slow Food Travel Project Designer and Dr Roland Schegg, Professor UAS at the School of Management and scientific coordinator of the Tourism institute in Sierre.  

Preparation for their future career

What did the students learn from participating in this event? "Such an event helps us prepare for our future. In a few years, we might be in their place. We learn a lot, get an insight into the profession and see how MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing, Exhibitions) works in reality."

According to Emmanuel Fragnière, it's worthwhile for the students to list this experience on their CVs: "They behaved professionally and proved themselves at this event."

The HES-SO Valais-Wallis brings its expertise to the MITF 

Emmanuel Fragnière and Roland Schegg took part in last year's MITF. This year, the forum once again engaged speakers from the HES-SO Valais-Wallis: Emmanuel Fragnière spoke about cross-border commuters, Roland Schegg contributed to the discussion on the lack of personnel in the industry, and Stéphane Genoud gave a presentation on the energy crisis in tourism. In parallel to these contributions, the 3rd-year tourism students led a workshop during the two-day forum. On the MITF website, you can find videos of the lectures and discussion panels.