A new partnership among Hospitality and Tourism Academy and one of the world’s leading hospitality schools the Business & Hotel Management School in Switzerland will allow Albanian students, to transfer their studies and benefit from the paid internships, while working in the leading Swiss and International hotels and resorts.

The agreement between HAT and BHMS, is an educational pathway that allows HAT students to benefit from a curriculum which is compatible with the one of BHMS in Switzerland.

“Through this partnership young people can further develop their skills and take their career paths to the highest levels” – said Gladiola Dona, Managing Director of Hospitality and Tourism Academy in her address during the ceremony organised with the participation of Albanian public and private education institutions, students, media, development community and high officials from the Swiss Embassy to Tirana.

Mr. Martin Wyler, International Business Development Director of BHMS invited young students to benefit from the various programmes the BHMS school is offering like undergraduate BA program in Hotel & Hospitality Management and Global Business Management for high school graduates, Post Graduate Diploma in Hospitality Management and MBA in Hospitality Management or Global/Business Management and Culinary Management program.

“We are now glad to learn that the Albanian Hospitality and Tourism Academy offers now a curriculum that is compatible with the Swiss School. Through this new partnership the Albanian young people can advance their career paths and expose and develop their skills in an international setting. Switzerland through our RisiAlbania project contributes to stimulate the training offer of non-formal providers through innovative programmes and methodologies that are in high demand from businesses in the sector” – said Embassy of Switzerland’s Deputy Head of Mission in Albania, Patrik Meier.

Albania has an attractive hospitality and tourism sector with lots of potential for development and employment. The private sector articulates lack of skills of their employees within the Tourism sector, while the private market of skills development providers has far more potential than the current one. To shorten the gap, SDC through our RisiAlbania project works in this area to stimulate non-formal training providers offer through innovative programmes and methodologies that are in high demand from businesses in the sector. In this regard, Risi has contributed by supporting training provides to enrich their offer and services, increase their outreach in order to attract more students, and expand outside Tirana.

Such is the case of Hospitality of Tourism Academy (HAT), one of RisiAlbania’s partner that offers in-demand training courses in hospitality and tourism. HAT has an increasing number of trainees attending its courses and successfully graduating, 580 since 2015, when it was established. The demand for its graduates is large and 100 % of the students have jobs on graduation. Recently, HAT has introduced a professional online platform that also enables better access to trainings for young people who leave outside Tiana.

By supporting private non-formal training providers to develop and implement innovative programs and learning methodologies, RisiAlbania project is improving the skills and enhancing the employment for young people in the sector.