Students get a Swiss connection

Students get a Swiss connection

Living and studying in a picturesque Swiss lakeside village has just become a reality for Hospitality students enrolling at Whitireia Polytechnic.

On Monday (21 November) the polytechnic will sign an agreement with the Swiss International Hotel and Business Management School, DCT, allowing students enrolled in its two-year National Diploma in Hospitality Management programme, to continue their studies at Vitznau on the shores of Lake Lucerne.

Walter Spaltenstein, chairman of the DCT board of directors, will sign the agreement with Whitireia on Monday morning (9am). This will be his second visit to the Porirua polytechnic.

Vitznau, underneath the mountain known as the Rigi, is the location of Europe’s oldest rack railway. The area is a magnet for tourists.

Students who start their study at Whitireia can then enrol at the DCT Hotel School Vitznau for further one or two-year course options. The first option is to complete a 12-month course of study and paid work leading to an Advanced Diploma in Hotel and Tourism Management. The DCT school is affiliated to the Swiss Hotel Schools Association.

The second option is to continue for another 12 months on a University of Massachusetts course, also based at Lucerne, and gain a further qualification – a Bachelor of Science in Hospitality and Tourism Management.

“They are recognising our qualifications and giving credit in their programmes,” says Whitireia Polytechnic’s International Manager, Kaye Le Gros.

She says the first students to be eligible to study in Switzerland are this year’s July intake to its Auckland campus.

The Swiss courses, including food and wine service, hotel and tourism management, and restaurant management are taught in English, but with some “hospitality German” too.

Kaye says after completing these courses, Whitireia students will be able to go anywhere.

Course fees include accommodation in Switzerland, but students will be paid for work experience, which accounts for about half of each course.

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