Hospitality
Immersion Program
Be fully prepared to start your Master's program
4-WEEK PROGRAM IN SWITZERLAND
What is the Hospitality Immersion Program?
The Hospitality Immersion Program (HIP) is an intensive preparatory course designed for Glion Master’s students who have not previously studied a hospitality degree or worked within the industry.
It begins four weeks before the designated start of formal Master’s studies, leading seamlessly into the first semester.
You can opt to study the HIP if you are applying to one of the following Master’s programs:
- Master's in Hospitality Business Leadership
- Master’s in Luxury Management and Guest Experience
- Master’s in Hospitality, Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Location: Glion campus, Switzerland
Intakes: Spring or Fall
Duration: 4 weeks (before semester 1)
Additional tuition fee in 2026: CHF 6,980
Entry requirement: you must be enrolled in a Glion Master's degree.
Masters program structure
Hospitality Immersion Program
4 weeks (optional)
Glion
Semester 1
Semester 2
Semester 3
6-month internship with Applied Research Report or Business Research Project
MSc
1.5-year program
Your classes and workshops cover core hospitality areas such as food & beverage (F&B), front office, and rooms division, while also enhancing soft skills including communication, teamwork, and intercultural fluency. Upon completion, your professional knowledge will be at a level enabling you to hit the ground running as your Master’s begins.
What will you learn?
Making use of the exceptional hospitality training facilities on our Glion campus, you will complete the following practical courses:
F&B Concepts & Service Excellence
Wine & Bar Universe
Rooms Division & Guest Experience
Gastronomic Kitchen
During each course, you will learn the skills which are fundamental to performing tasks and duties within these different hospitality disciplines. In addition, through this hands-on operational experience you will further develop soft skills including professional appearance and behavior, good communication and teamwork.
You will be taught in small groups of no more than 15 people, enabling our experienced instructors to offer a tailored and personalized approach. Working with, and alongside, classmates from different countries, you will become familiar with the multicultural environment which is a key characteristic of the global hospitality industry.
What are the career benefits of possessing hospitality operational knowledge?
Many of our Master’s students have their sights set on leadership positions in hospitality and beyond. So why learn the operational practicalities of the business?
The answer is that every great career is built on solid foundations – and in hospitality management the foundation is provided by the operational elements that add up to a memorable guest experience.
By sampling these tasks you will become a more capable leader; able to understand and support your team members, and managing with empathy while driving towards your business objectives.
Furthermore, the soft skills you acquire throughout the HIP – and your subsequent Master’s studies – will be crucial to your career success whether you choose to work in hotels or any other customer-centric field.
“Start from scratch. If you want to grow – that’s the way. You cannot understand employees if you don’t start on the ground in everyday operations, that is absolutely important.”
Francesco Barattini Schlechter Class of 2011 alumnus
Course spotlights
F&B Concepts & Service Excellence
Our Glion campus contains a number of restaurants serving a variety of different cuisines. As part of this course, you will work in one of them, learning how to do restaurant set-up, take customer orders then serve dishes and drinks.
This truly immersive experience will teach you about service excellence and what it takes to create satisfied customers. You will also learn more about the art of teamwork in a busy hospitality environment, and how multinational teams can be organized and managed effectively.
The course additionally contains practical workshops which will introduce different F&B concepts and help you understand the inner workings of a variety of F&B organizations.
“I really like the service course because it’s all about the elegance of service and showing people that you really care about them.”
Guillaume-Victor Laplace Glion alumnus
Wine & Bar Universe
The bar is the beating heart of many hotels, attracting residents and non-residents alike. For fine dining restaurants, meanwhile, wine sales can contribute anything between 20% and 40% of total turnover.
It’s for these reasons that having a strong foundation of wine & bar knowledge is essential to success in the hospitality world.
Our Wine & Bar Universe course brings your oenology and beverage knowledge up to speed, giving you the opportunity to learn from masters of the sommelier’s art. You will better understand the process of creating an exceptional product, as well as the importance of attention to detail in wine and bar service.
“What I enjoyed about the wine course is that we learnt how to convey different flavors to guests and how to talk about wines when we are in service.”
Maxime Noah Oosterveld Glion alumnus
Gastronomic Kitchen
Great food is at the center of many great hospitality experiences. In this course you will be placed in the kitchen with our highly experienced chefs, learning how to prepare and present delicious dishes.
Through practical experience, you will learn how to work under pressure and manage a team to reach a common goal. It will provide you with a keen understanding of how impeccable organization and flawless teamwork are fundamental to the smooth running of a professional kitchen.
“We were given trust and responsibilities instantly: we had to manage our working station, our dish, and the service as a team. The Chef was dedicated and created a unique dynamic within the group.
The kitchen course is a perfect combination of learning and practicing at a high level. The menu is gastronomic, and knowing you are cooking for actual guests coming for lunch makes it all the more realistic and thus greatly motivational.”
Constance Gray Glion alumna
Rooms Division & Guest Experience
This course covers the operations and management of a hotel’s reception, concierge desk, housekeeping and guest relations departments. Critical to the success of the business, these teams provide the guest’s first impression of the hotel, contribute enormously to guest satisfaction throughout their stay, and act as the first point of contact in the event of a complaint.
Throughout the course, you will learn about – then practice – the tasks performed by each department. You will also gain insights into guest behavior and how to manage their expectations, as you trace the entire guest journey from making a reservation to checking out.
In addition to the hard skills acquired throughout this course, you will learn the importance of leading by example, while discovering the secrets of managing international teams, maintaining a “can-do” mentality, and finding solutions to complex operational challenges.
“I really loved the Rooms Division course because I am a big client of hotels, but I never knew how it worked behind the scenes. It was an opportunity to get to know the software and all the things that we would need to work in front office in a hotel.”
Guillaume-Victor Laplace Glion alumnus
How to apply for the HIP
Please note that the HIP can only be studied in association with the three Master’s programs referenced earlier. Should you be interested in adding the HIP to your chosen Master’s program, you will need to confirm this directly to your designated Educational Counselor during the Master’s application process.
