CALL FOR PARTNERSHIP OPPORTUNITY: Implementation of Swiss Executive Hospitality Training (EHT)

1. INTRODUCTION

The Swiss Tourism for Sustainable Development (ST4SD) project, funded by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), aims to strengthen Vietnamese training institutes in providing education and developing skills and expertise in sustainable tourism.

To achieve this objective, an Executive Hospitality Training (EHT) program will be established at qualified Vietnamese partner institutions.

This hospitality training curriculum targets mid- to high-level management professionnals in hospitality businesses. The EHT focuses on enhancing the skills of practitioners and experts, thereby strengthening the Vietnamese tourism sector as a whole toward sustainability and high-quality tourism.

The training is designed to address the significant need for management capacities and increased professionalism in the tourism industry, supporting Vietnam’s recovery from COVID-19. The curriculum will be developed and introduced in collaboration with a well-reputed international training institution and the Vietnamese partner institutes. While the Swiss-selected partner is Lausanne Hospitality Business School (EHL), which has held the world’s number 1 position for the past 7 years based on QS University ranking, Vietnamese academic partners need to be carefully selected based on their capacity to maintain a long-term partnership with EHL.

Priority should be given to collaborations between institutes and the private sector (e.g., tourism providers, associations) to ensure the training aligns with the industry’s skill needs.

2. ACHIEVEMENTS OF SWISS EHT PROGRAM

• Four institutes namely, the National Economics University, IBH Academy, Van Lang University, and Saigon Tourism College were selected for the pilot phase in November 2023.
• To date, 17 master trainers from these institutions have received EHL certifications after undergoing skills training aligned with international standards.
• Van Lang University has officially integrated the Swiss EHT Foundation into its bachelor curriculum. IBH Academy has launched the first course for staff of Sovico group. Saigon Tourism College approached the localities to deploy training courses for local businesses using the state’s human resource development budget.
• In collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, the first two Swiss ETH Foundation courses were successfully organized in July 2025, enhancing the skills of 50 key personnel from outstanding hotels in the city. The Swiss EHT certificates would be recognised as a criterion for hotel star-rating upgrades in HCMC.

3. PROJECT MANDATE:

The project mandate can be summarized as follows:

• Receiving and delivering the Swiss EHT curriculum and content.
• Sending trainers to attend the Train-the-Trainer course (Swiss EHT – Master Instructors) delivered and certified by EHL.
• Building a self-governing and self-financing model by the end of the project.
• Achieving scale and impact for mid- or high-level management staff in the hospitality sector.     

4. BENEFITS AND RESPONSIBILITY

Benefits

• Long-term implementation of the Swiss EHT program according to an economically sustainable model.
• Trainers are upgraded through ToT training courses certified by EHL with “Swissness” through a flexible dual training model, strong industry-academia links, and learner-centered, experiential methods.
• Establish a direct and sustainable working relationship with EHL
• Enhance close and strategic cooperation between training institutes and industry through a demand-led training model.

Responsibility

• Delivery model
  • Providing suitable trainers, staff and facilities
  • Ensuring that the course meets the expected standards of EHL certification requirements.
• Marketing/ Sales/ administration
  • Analysis of demand and targeted audiences, and new areas of influence.
  • Enrollment, Student administration.
  • Promotion, marketing and ensuring wide participation and growth of the course to increase impact upon the industry.

5. GUIDING PRINCIPLES OF THE SELECTION PROCESS

The following notes are provided to support institutes in completing the concept note to apply for this call. Each institute is provided the same information to maintain openness and transparency.

Section 1: Summary Statement of Interest.

We would like you to state your interest and ambition for the project and indicate that you are able to deliver the mandate.

1. Please provide a headline summary of your application (max 50 words).
2. Please state your commitment and interest in participating in the project in collaboration with EHL
3. State your ability to deliver the mandate as provided in the background supporting documents
4. State your intention to collaborate with EHL and ST4SD with the intention to develop a long-term partnership with EHL, independently from ST4SD support.
5. Please state how you will promote the interests of SECO (the donor) and EHL and ensure their visibility.
6. Please indicate your anticipated impact in terms of people trained within the project cycle.

Section 2: Overview of Institute:

This is an opportunity for you to demonstrate the suitability of your institute for the purpose of the project and the feasibility of a long-term collaboration with EHL.

1. Brief history and overview of the institute.
2. Institute profile (international / national ranking; networks to private & public sector; sustainability practices; awards; international cooperation; connections to provinces outside the urban center).
3. Range of courses currently on offer (please highlight any that are similar in nature to the project and the proposed model below – including short courses).
4. Student and Graduate Profiles: (rates of enrolment; rates and typical level of employment on completion; alumni networks).
5. Overview of facilities: (equipment; capacity for practical training; experiential approaches).
6. Overview of key staff members (with CVs of those participating in the project).
7. Any connections to the Swiss hospitality and tourism industries and / or Swiss International cooperation.

Section 3: Description of the proposed business model(s):

There are numerous approaches to collaborating with ST4SD and EHL to deliver the mandate. Please suggest your model(s) and demonstrate how these approaches will achieve the project mandate as stated above.

Please provide up to four different models, with a range of scale and required project support.

1. Please provide a brief description of delivering the course:
   • What is your vision for the course. Please indicate the intended impact in line with the project mandate
   • What is the anticipated enrollment in the course: within the lifecycle of the project (March 2027) and by December 2030.
2. Please provide an overview of the proposed model structure:
   • Who are the intended target markets?
   • What is your delivery model of the course? Which delivering methodologies would you like to use?How will the support provided by the project (including from EHL) be structured and what is the pathway to a self-sustaining the program after ST4SD project closes?
   • How will the proposed course be integrated into (or compliment) the existing portfolio of course offers? Is it ‘stand-alone’, a new development, an updated version of a new course or a contribution to an existing course?
3. Indicate how this model will be self-financed and self-governed (through collaboration between the institute and EHL without continued project support).
   • Please provide a description of how the course will achieve self-financing within the timeframe of the project? A full financial model will be developed in partnership for selected institutes and only a conceptual description is required here.
   • How do you envisage that the institute and EHL will administer the course: (including (co)-certification; marketing and promotion; enrolment; career support; etc.)
4. Please provide an indicative timeframe and work-plan for the development of the course and expected start-date / initial graduation date.

Section 4: Further information in support of your application.

This is an opportunity to provide any further information that does not fit into the above template