\"Maria

María Teresa Gozalo has been running Les Roches Marbella since the prestigious Swiss institution opened its Costa del Sol centre in 1995. This branch campus of Les Roches, where hotel and golf course managers receive training, was recently elected as the best school in Spain for educating tourism professionals.

 

1 –Tourism is the main sector that will help us move on from the crisis. Do you believe this industry will be a key element in the world economy in this respect?

–I firmly believe it will be, and this is borne out by figures released by various official organizations. It is forecast that the international hotel, restaurant and tourism industry will generate 303 million jobs around the world by 2020, representing one in every 11 positions. In addition, the 20 leading hotel chains estimate that 8,500 hotels will be opened, with an annual growth of 20% providing more than 1.1 million extra rooms by 2015.

2 –Define Les Roches for us… is it a tourism school or something more?

–Les Roches Marbella is a top-level International School of Hotel Management dedicated to training managers for the international hospitality industry. But that’s not all: we also offer a truly multinational campus setting where students from over 50 countries live together and share experiences in a very enriching way – in the privileged location of Marbella.

3 –Your students enter the workforce with ample and officially accredited knowledge of the industry. Do companies fight for their services?

–One of the main added benefits we offer is inter-relation between the school and the business world, including hospitality establishments and hotel resorts with golf courses on a worldwide basis. Every semester, these hospitality chains and hotels visit Les Roches Marbella seeking to incorporate our students into their productive structures. The result is that on average our students receive three internship offers per semester, and currently 80% of our alumni are enjoying successful careers in the international hotel industry or related service sectors in over 40 countries

4 –Is it true, as claimed, that to work in tourism you need to have a special makeup, a particular attitude to life?

–If you could outline a robot model of the top hotel of the 21st century it would be someone who is multilingual, has management and leadership skills, can manage teams, has competencies in accounting, purchasing and yield & revenue, is knowledgeable of the latest hotel management IT systems, and has experience working in the leading international establishments. That is, a professional who have a special make-up and a very well defined attitude towards their work.

5 –With 32,000 golf courses around the world, Les Roches cannot overlook this segment. What do you believe is golf’s role and relevance within the tourism industry?

–Golf is much more than a sport; it is an important complement to leisure and activity tourism. Golf provides added values such as: development of “quality” tourism, as it includes such aspects as event management, customer service, special projects, tourist amenities and media. The golf industry shares many aspects with the hospitality industry.

6 –You have been offering special courses for golf course managers. What do these involve?

–Businesses related to the world of golf currently operate in a very complex environment due to their own internal structure; and the dynamism required in relationships with other sectors. As a result, a new situation has emerged: the need to hire professionals capable of managing and optimizing all these resources. This has led to the notion of “golf management” as a truly strategic concept, offering numerous professional opportunities.

Les Roches Marbella 1-year Postgraduate Diploma in Golf Management, starting in January 2012, is the best option for graduates or industry professionals pursuing specialization in this field to fast track their international career to leading manage- rial positions worldwide. In addition we are currently delivering a specialization course in Food & Beverage Management for active golf course managers. This further education program, designed in collaboration with ClubManagerSpain, will start its second edition at Les Roches Marbella campus from 7 to 9 of November, 2011. Participants will be exposed to high quality international F&B Management standards, the latest trends in this business sector, among other possibilities.

7 –The Costa del Sol is a premier golf holiday destination in Europe. What would you recommend the industry do to maintain its privileged market position?

–Continue improving their golf amenities and managers commitment to quality in every aspect of the business: installations, services, prices… Also, in line with that, particularly throughout the Costa del Sol we need to improve the qualifications and training levels of all professionals involved in this industry.

8 –What do you believe is the key to being a good golf course manager?

–I believe the golf industry is requiring, with greater and greater urgency, managers with a solid preparation who have the ability to respond with creativity and professionalism to the sector’s new challenges, and to identify and analyze any problems, implementing adequate solutions. As we emphasize in our post-graduate program: leadership skills, team work and a set of specialized skills and competences.

9 –What makes Les Roches stand out compared with other similar education institutions?

–Les Roches Marbella offers the best possible combination of various elements: the Swiss hospitality know-how, the efficiency of the North American education system – we are accredited at the university level by the New England Association of Schools & Colleges (NEASC) in USA; our ability to offer instruction in English, combining theory and practical classes; our commitment to such aspects as multilingualism and sport; and, as the culmination of all of those facets, we offer a topnotch campus in a cosmopolitan city like Marbella