Les Roches did not start off as a Swiss hotel management school but rather, as an international boarding school – the vision of the four Clivaz brothers...

1950's - The Early Years

The brothers grew up in Bluche, with its expansive skyscapes, stunning views over the Valais Alps and the Rhone Valley, and air that is said to sparkle like champagne. Marcel and Jean-Pierre started winter ski camps in 1952.  These camps were so successful, that parents asked if they would start a school for their children all year round. Entrepreneurs, educationalists, and internationalists, the brothers started to plan how they could create a business that would meet the educational needs of the growing number of expats in Geneva. They secured buildings and land in Bluche near the family home to found the first and only international boarding school in Valais, offering American and European-standard study programs. Les Roches – meaning ‘The Rocks’ in English – opened its doors in 1954 with 60 children aged 12-18.  The girls were housed in Prés-Fleuris and the boys in Les Roches. A new school and a new way of life were born.

"Respond to the demand and rely on yourself. Have the courage and goodwill to develop."
- Francis Clivaz on his greatest challenge

The Clivaz' family vision for the school was:

• To create an international co-educational boarding school, giving children a balanced curriculum of educational, sporting, and social events in a wholesome and supportive environment
• Children would live, work and play with other children of diverse national, religious, and racial backgrounds
• Children would be equal in their status, irrespective of the families from which they came
• The school would be free from political influence and deliver a neutral education
  
  

"Nearly 100 nationalities are represented on campus."
- Francis Clivaz on his greatest source of pride and satisfaction.

1960's - Swingin' it, Les Roches style

In the 1960s, Les Roches was still a few years away from becoming a Swiss hospitality management school.
This decade saw steady growth in the number of enrolled junior and senior students. By the mid-60s, the number of students had risen to 220, from 60 different countries in five different continents, with a large student body from the USA and Iran, among other nations. To manage the continued expansion, two other Clivaz brothers, Francis and Roger, joined the family team. The brothers started to recruit in earnest abroad, going on trips to the Middle East, America, and Eastern Europe to meet prospective parents and their children.

Social life in the 1960s

So what was the school like in the 60s?
A social revolution was happening all over the world, but for life in the Alpine village of Bluche, things were pretty calm, which is perhaps why the school was a popular choice for parents. There were no wild parties in Bluche (well, one or two) and the political unrest from the Cold War was a million miles away. That’s not to say students weren’t engaged with the world outside Bluche. Looking at the photos from 1968, it is clear the students had a lot of fun, as well embracing a particularly ‘Les Roches’ approach to world peace. 

These images are a courtesy from Friends of Bluche - the original alumni community of the International Boarding School Ecole des Roches and Pre-Fleuri before it became the Les Roches Global Hospitality Education school. 

Hotels, Tourism and the seeds of change

The 1960s was a remarkable decade for hospitality.
The development of highways and commercial flights made it easier to travel than ever before, while geopolitical changes revealed the economic potential of the hospitality industry, generating a massive expansion of hotel chains and tourism.

In the 1960s:

• Club Med was founded
• Four Seasons built its first hotel
• The Holiday Inn chain opened its 800^th hotel
• Siegas introduced minibar in hotel rooms
• InterContinental installed retractable drying lines in guest showers, launched business lounges, ice and vending machines in guest corridors, and street entrances for hotel restaurants

The industry was expanding but it would be another few years before the Clivaz brothers would start to nurture the idea of developing the boarding school into a hotel management school that would offer diplomas in hospitality management for people who wanted to work in the hotel industry.

1970's - A Period of consolidation for the Ecole des Roches

The early 1970s was a period of consolidation for the Ecole des Roches; the late 1970s, a period of dramatic change.
The school continued building on its foundations established in the 1950s, of a rounded education that balanced academic learning, with sport, a healthy lifestyle, and well-being. As the biggest international boarding school in Valais and a successful business, it brought significant financial benefit to the local economy as well as employment opportunities for teachers and support staff.

But the world political stage was changing with significant upheaval in the Middle East, and in the second half of the 1970s, the Clivaz brothers began to reflect more seriously about the growing business opportunity of creating a school that offered diplomas in hotel management. In 1979, the Ecole des Roches became Les Roches Hotel and Tourism School. Les Roches Hotel and Tourism School became Switzerland’s first and only hotel management training school that offered instruction in English.

The Hotel and Tourism Industry - all about business

The 1970S saw the beginning of hotels aimed at business people. This was influences by the following factors:

• Airline companies looking for economic growth opportunities decided to expand into hotels
• The sudden oil-prosperity of the Middle East countries attracted business people from around the world

In the 1970S, hotel chains upped their game in response to consumer demand.

• Hotels rooms became more spacious and the cuisine more refined
• Various first-class hotels (among them former palaces and city center hotels) which had fallen into disrepair, began systematic renovation programs

Other key developments:

• The first congresses of international hotel experts started at end of the 1970s
• China opened its doors to foreign tourists

1980's - Hotel and Tourism

For four years, from 1979 to 1983 the international boarding school and the hotel and tourism school ran in tandem. Then in 1983, the doors closed to secondary school children, and the school’s sole focus became hotels and tourism. There were approximately 170 students.

On a Sunday evening in April 1985, a huge fire destroyed the main building. All 180 students and resident staff members were safely evacuated, and de-camped to the Hotel Mirabeau in Montana for two years whilst the campus was being rebuilt.

Despite considerable destruction to the property and its contents, the School only lost one day of classes as arrangements were immediately made to house students and teaching facilities in three hotels in Montana. Construction of new buildings began in May 1986.

In 1987, the school re-opened its doors. The new building was designed to accommodate more students and with greater purpose-built facilities for vocational training. The school made an agreement with the Swiss Hoteliers Association (which lasted till 2005) enabling them to officially offer the SHA diploma, and Les Roches was put firmly on the hospitality education map.

How does a school of 1200+ integrate into a village of 350 inhabitants?

It’s not straightforward. But when the school was virtually destroyed in 1985, the brothers decided to rebuild it, specifically as a professional school.  The villagers were consulted.  The only thing they asked was that the new building should correspond to the old building.  The Clivaz brothers agreed and Les Roches that stands today is a faithful (though much improved) version of the old building.

Today, villagers of Bluche are invited to Les Roches Culture Nights, where they can experience international cuisine and cultural celebrations.  The school collaborates closely with civil authorities such as the town council and the police and ensures all students understand how to live in Switzerland and respect Swiss laws and the way of life.

The importance of accreditation

Even in the 1980s, the issue of accreditation was very important to Les Roches. The management knew it would never be enough to rely on the power of the Swiss brand to attract students, but that accreditation would be needed from reputable institutions, such as NEASC (see below) which also accredits Ivy League universities in the USA.

Les Roches accreditation path:

• 1986 - SHA accreditation
• 1991 - New England Association of Colleges and Universities (Technical and Vocational Council)
• 2005 - New England Association of Colleges and Universities (Commission on Institutions of Higher Education)
• 2024 - Swiss Accreditation Council - The Swiss Accreditation Council (SAC) has awarded Les Roches the status of University of Applied Sciences Institute

1990's - Consolidation and Growth 

In the 1990s, Les Roches consolidated its position as one of the world’s top hotel management schools and grew steadily year on year to reach around 500 students by 1999.

In 1991, it was the first hotel school in Switzerland to be given accreditation by the Technical and Vocational Council of the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, in recognition of the high standard of practical training that the school offered.

At the beginning of the 1990s, the Clivaz brothers, in their indefatigable entrepreneurial spirit, saw that the future of hospitality education would be as global as the industry itself. As a result, in 1995, they founded their first international campus, located in Marbella, Spain, and gave it the name the Swiss School of Hotel Management and Tourism in Spain.

Tourism 

The rise of emerging markets:

In the mid-1990s, North America and Europe accounted for 79 percent of world tourism.  But by the end of the 1990s, Asia–Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa became the leading regions and OECD countries saw their international arrivals decline strongly (source: ILO).

The rise of sustainable tourism

In the early 1990s, the sustainable tourism movement began to take off, in part due to the establishment of the International Ecotourism Society (TIES) in 1990, and the 1992 United Nations Rio Earth Summit.  Cultural tourism also rose in popularity.

2000's - Vision and Expansion 

Les Roches underwent significant changes during the millennial decade.  In 2000, Sylvan International Universities bought the school and Les Roches became the Hospitality Center of Excellence for Sylvan International Universities. Sylvan itself became Laureate Education Inc. in May 2004.

Once again, Les Roches changed its name. It became ‘Les Roches International School of Hotel Management’ to better reflect its global student body and educational approach.

In order to distinguish itself from the growing number of hospitality schools and the demand for ever-higher levels of expertise from hospitality graduates, Les Roches expanded its hospitality management degrees. It offered Post-Graduate Diplomas in hotel management, a range of bachelor degrees in hospitality management and introduced its first MBA in Hospitality Management with specializations in finance or marketing through the Universidad Europea de Madrid (UEM).

It also formed a partnership with Jin Jiang International Hotels to open Les Roches Jin Jiang in Shanghai, China. This would meet the growing need for quality Swiss hospitality education within China and give foreign students the chance to develop Chinese relevant cultural, language, and business skills.  In addition, the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts, in Amman, Jordan, joined the Les Roches family as an affiliated institution.

The calibre of its hospitality management programs began to be recognized officially by industry experts. In 2007, for the first time, Les Roches was ranked among the top three hospitality management schools in the world for an international career (TNS Global Survey 2007).

2010's - The Sky's the Limit

This decade has seen Les Roches continue to build on its rich heritage of multiculturalism and entrepreneurship. It has been – so far – a decade of growth, success, and recognition.

Working closely with the industry enables Les Roches to evolve the curricula in response to industry demand. This decade, Les Roches has introduced new specializations to the BBA in International Hotel Management including Culinary Business Management, Innovation and Sustainability, and Event Management.  It has also introduced the flagship Global Degree, which allows students to rotate with their classmates through the Switzerland, China and Spain campuses. In addition, it launched a Master in Hospitality Management. 

It maintained its top-ranking position in the TNS Survey (2010, 2013).  In 2013, it was ranked first place in the MKG Worldwide Hospitality Awards for the best hotel management school.

Of course, as a school grows in numbers, the physical infrastructure needs to expand and be refurbished.  The ‘A La Carte’ restaurant was created as a food and beverage facility for instruction, and the Sports Bar was added as a student recreation facility.  In 2014, the lobby area and the Market Place – the main student dining area – were refurbished and the school shop, Les Roches Kiosk, was opened.

But it hasn’t been all work and the creative pulse of the school has found expression in large-scale interactive and artistic projects that have been led by the students. These include the setting of the Guinness World Record for the most nationalities in a swimming pool and the world map video animation created with a world-renowned Swiss video artist.

2016 - From Laureate Education to Sommet Education

In March 2016,  Laureate Education, Inc. and Eurazeo, one of Europe's leading investment companies announced that they have signed an agreement under which Eurazeo will acquire Glion Institute of Higher Education ("Glion") and Les Roches International School of Hotel Management ("Les Roches") from Laureate Education. With a diversified portfolio, Eurazeo is one of the most prestigious publicly traded investment companies in Europe. It is notably a majority or key shareholder in such well-known hospitality, travel, and luxury brands. Sommet Education is then founded to manage Les Roches and Glion. 

Since then, Les Roches continues to be one of the best hospitality schools in the world with innovative programs. In 2020, Les Roches launched the first Master program in Digital transformation for hospitality industry. During COVID epidemic, Les Roches is the first Swiss school to launch Hyflex program. Meanwhile, Les Roches keep strengthening its features in entrepreneurship and innovation with the creation of SPARK, which will bring more opportunities for the students to participate in entrepreneurship projects.