Swiss Institute of Hospitality and Banking to open in Sri Lanka

The Swiss Institute of Hospitality & Banking will commence operations in May 2016 in Sri Lanka. It is the kick-off phase for a major business venture spanning a training institution, a hotel property, a school campus, and a marina with a marine park. It is founded by BaSSAG AG and partnered by Swiss certifying and knowhow partners including the Swiss Hospitality School Lucerne (SHL) and the Swiss Banking Advisory Academy BBZ from St. Gallen, as well as contributions by the President of the University of Applied Sciences St. Gallen, Switzerland. The school, which will be opened in May 2016, will be a brand on the market, combining affordable education, access to financing for participants, and portable Swiss certification. It will also be the first hospitality and banking school in the world. BaSSAG is a management consultancy company which undertakes special projects for blue-chip companies in Europe and Asia. It is based in Switzerland´s renowned home for education and top training institutes - St. Gallen. Bassag´s experts have set up schools and training institutes for corporations, such as the UBS Wealth Management Campus in Singapore, and executed strategies and change projects for airlines, hotels and logistics companies. BaSSAG is the founding organization of the Swiss Institute of Hospitality & Banking. The Swiss Institute of Hospitality & Banking is headed by Dr. Rohith Gerald Delilkhan, who has a long-standing track record of setting up and managing education institutions in Europe and Asia, and Mr. Michael Bardon, a seasoned international service industry expert. The Advisory Board boasts several industry and education experts, such as Ms. Andrea Kuhn-Senn, who headed the Center of Young Professionals in Switzerland, Mr. Dominique Nordmann, CEO of Resplendent Ceylon, Mr Heiko Rosenbohm, a top German Sales & Marketing authority, and Mr. Adrian Zeccha, the Chairman of Aman Resorts. “The Swiss Institute of Hospitality and Banking is the first in the world to address the needs of all service industries: Aviation, Banking, Hospitality, Logistics, Retail, Telecommunications and Tourism. For the industry players this means a boost to the capability development sector in Sri Lanka who will have access to a new generation of Sri Lankans with relevant skill sets”, said Dr Delilkhan. Switzerland has led from the front in service industry training and development, and as a small country it has produced some of the great names in banking, hospitality, travel and logistics. This has been largely due to the skills people have acquired through the Swiss professional training model and this is what the Swiss Institute of Hospitality and Banking hopes to deliver in Sri Lanka. “It is our aim to set up a service industry school to assist the skills development of Sri Lanka towards becoming a major force in Asia again. We hope to become the leading service industry school in Asia. The Swiss Institute of Hospitality & Banking will conduct state-of-the-art programs at certificate and diploma level. Programmes will include Food & Beverages, Reception, House Keeping, Supervisory skills excellence for hospitality, relationship management, wealth management advisory, and bank management for the banking industry”. Dr Delilkhan said that all programs with Swiss certification at affordable prices will be made available across Sri Lanka. “We will be setting up a full campus in due course in Sri Lanka after commencing operations in Colombo with a local partner from the hotel industry. No other training institution in Sri Lanka provides such an offering”. Operations will commence in May 2016, with a Train-the-Trainer program open to Sri Lankans with experience in the hospitality industry. Those wishing to take up a career can apply for training as certified Swiss trainers. “It’s great to see how fast Sri Lanka is developing. And it’s also great to be part of it. The Swiss Institute of Hospitality & Banking offers a wide range of the most interesting tools, methods and experiences to increase knowledge fast”, said Dr Delilkhan. Full-time training five days a week (intensive) , Night school part-time (standard) and weekend courses (special) will be held and courses commence in Colombo in 2016, with courses also being offered in the South (Galle), Central (Cultural Triangle) and in the East (Trincomalee) in due course. The who’s who of the The Swiss Institute of Hospitality & Banking include Dr. Rohith Gerald Delilkhan, [Sri Lanka/UK] , CEO, Mr. Michael Bardon, [German] , Deputy CEO, Ms Andrea Kuhn, [Swiss], representing the Bank Advisory Academy of Switzerland, the Swiss Hotel School Lucerne represented by Bart Ferwerda( Swiss), and Dr. Sebastian Wörwag (Swiss), President of the University of Applied Sciences St, Gallen as Head of Quality Management. “A top team of training experts from Switzerland will be on site in Sri Lanka to launch the first Train-the-Trainer program, a month-long intensive certification program for trainers for the hospitality industry, planned to be run at Cape Weligama Hotel, one of Sri Lanka´s top hotel addresses, late May and June 2016. Those who qualify as trainers will be provided with guaranteed training assignments at the Swiss Institute of Hospitality & Banking”, said Dr Delilkhan. “We will come to you, you need not travel too far to attend these exceptional programs” said Dr Delilkhan. For more advanced graduates and managers, summer residential programs in Switzerland will also be held . “In fact, what we offer you is seamless connectivity in our programs, which knits the modules to certificate and diploma programs, and with sufficient work experience, opens the pathway to degree qualifications in due course. Climb every mountain with us”. (Media Release)