W h e n P a t h s C r o s s

Masters students from

MMU and IMI meet

during recent visit

Students and

faculty from

IMI’s validating

university the

Manchester Met-

ropolitan visited

our Kastanien-

baum campus from 7th to 10th

March 2016.

The 14 students are from the

Master of Arts programme in

Events Management and

Hospitality Management. They

were led by Programme Leader

(PL) for Hospitality Management

and Culinary Arts Mr Ian

Ainscough, PL for Hospitality and

Events Management Mrs Diane

Connelly, and Postgraduate PL

for Hospitality and Tourism

Management Mr Andrew Mc-

Loughlin.

This is the second time a

collaboration visit was organised

between MMU and IMI.

On our side, IMI Dean and

Postgraduate Programme Leader

Prof Theodore Benetatos along

with our MBA students welcomed

them during lunch in the Swiss

Room on Tuesday the 8th.

Together, they participated in a

collaborative project introduced

by Mr Ioannis Evagelou relating

to the management of the World

Tourism Forum Lucerne 2017.

“The whole idea of creating

this short project was to have

the students interact with each

other in a classroom setting,”

commented Prof Benetatos. “It’s

interesting to see how they work

together, as our students are

more hospitality-focused while

most of MMU’s have been

studying events management.”

The teamwork and the insight

the students from both uni-

versities displayed impressed all

lecturers present.

Continued on page 7

ISSUE 3 of 16A www.imi-luzern.com 21 March – 10 April 2016

The B.I.G. News

It All Starts with an Idea! IMI 2nd Research Forum

Friday 8TH April 2016, 1.30pm

Swiss Room

So happy together: (from left) MMU’s MA students Aspa, Ellie and Robin collaborating with IMI’s MBAs Virzhiniya and Clarissa on an event-based presentation. – Vincy Ng

2 | T h e B I G N e w s

Career Days 8th – 17th March 2016

by C. Bernhard Makagiansar

and Keat Meng (photos by Vincy Ng, Benjamin

and the Marketing Dept.)

A longstanding brand promise of

IMI is in providing ample opp-

ortunities for internship place-

ment and full-time employment

in internationally recognised

hotels worldwide. The recent

career days are testament of the

Career and Internship Services

Department’s commitment to

that goal.

To give a comprehensive

overview of what was in store

this march, here follows a brief

description of each Career Day

talk:

"Ladies and Gentlemen serving

Ladies and Gentlemen." That

was Ritz Carlton, whose

representatives Ms Diana Huang

from Guangzhou, Ms Jenny Qin

of Beijing and Ms Catherine Chen

from Shenzhen presented their

brand and hotels in the Asia

Pacific on the 8th March. Offering

internships and the Voyager

management training prog-

ramme in 27 properties in

various parts of China and

countries in South East Asia.

They gave students just a small

glimpse of the Marriott Group.

Editorial

Musings

Now I know for sure the IMI

treadmill’s is broken. What else

could explain how packed the

last few weeks have been?!

Oh, I probably should refer

you to my musings last issue

for you to get that. Call me

lame but I find it funny, so I’m

going to print it.

Jokes aside, this above all

things showcases how packed

IMI’s schedule is. Maximising

students’ opportunities to learn

and venture into previously

unexplored career paths while

enjoying a wholesome campus

experience? One would be

hard-pressed to be bored

here!

Disclaimer: I said bored, not

stressed. Two different things.

And I think students agree with

me which is more prevalent!

As for me, I’m certainly

enthused to see what lies in

store in the second half of this

term. Believe me, I sure was

surprised to realise that we are

a few weeks away to the end of

2016’s Term A! That also

means just one more issue to

go before we close shop, folks!

(My team is celebrating

here. Can’t wait to get rid of

me. Go figure.)

Well, to end, here’s wishing

you good reading, and look out

for the next issue which

promises to be packed!

Keat Meng,

Student Editor

Ready, set … Students all geared up for the presentations, looking for the perfect start to their careers.

T h e B I G N e w s | 3

Sandals & Beaches Resorts

International Group Manager

(Internships) Ms. Marion

Weinbeer-Holding and consul-

tant Ms Nicole D’Souza visited on

10th March. They offered intern-

ships with a chance to work and

learn in all-inclusive island hotels

& resorts. Rooting for Sandals is

the company’s assistance in

obtaining work permits for their

interns.

On the morning of 11th March Mr.

Achal Goswami, COO of the

Frenchman’s Creek in South

Miami, Florida. They offered a

golden opportunity for students

wishing to go there for their

internships. Frenchman’s Creek

offers both accommodation and

visa aids for all students that are

willing to travel to the USA.

Frenchman’s Creek prides

themselves by providing one of

the finest personal service to

their members and guests. This

is thus a perfect for IMI students’

learning curve.

Ms. Frederique Hounkpatin and

Ms. Margo Stieg of the Hilton

Hotels and resorts presented the

opportunity for students to join

their internship program

primarily in the “Ras Al Khaimah”

vicinity of the UAE. The program

includes internship placements

in Hilton, Doubletree by Hilton

and Waldorf Astoria.

Mr. Sayed Haggag, Head of

Talent Acquisition for Marriott

hotels in the Middle East and

Africa. He introduced to us on

the morning of 17th March one

of the largest hotel chains that

cater to almost every market

segment with its 19 brands and

4,200 properties. Expounding

the strengths and offerings of

the Voyager management

training programme aimed at

developing future leaders and

general managers, Mr Sayed

also interviewed primarily

African and Middle Eastern

passport holders for the regions

he covers.

What separates the WISE Found-

ation from other Career Days

talks is that the company

primarily sponsors students

interested in going to the USA.

Director of Client Relations Erin

Pacol not only gave an overview

of what WISE is all about, but

also shared her personal

experience of the hospitality

industry and benefits of working

in America. They also provide

assistance to students in their J-

1 Visa application.

Most of the presentations

were followed by interviews with

students who applied for the

company. The interviewers were

mostly pleased by their chats

with the applicants, proudly

putting IMI on the recruitment

market!

4 | T h e B I G N e w s

Feature event:

CHARITY WEEK By C. Bernhard Makagiansar, photos by Vincy Ng

Giving back to others has always

been an idea to the world that

there are still good people

amongst us. This is why our

campus held a charity event

that would give hungry kids

proper nutrition as well as

appropriate shelter and care for

wild animals.

Activities were organised

throughout the Charity Week

from 14th to 18th March 2016 so

that students have more than

one avenue to contribute.

Collecting donations has never

been this fun!

Everyone at IMI had the

chance to go through a day

without wearing our formal outfit

and have the pleasure of waxing

hair off hairy guys by donating

money.

T h e B I G N e w s | 5

The fun part of the whole

event is that every male and

female of the IMI family had to

compete to see whoever donated

more; whichever party loses

gets to get their faces decorated

by makeup by the winning team.

To our disbelief, the guys lost the

game and got their face deco-

rated by makeup, bringing tons

of laughter on Wednesday night

at the dining hall.

Championing the human-

itarian causes against world

hunger and animal abuse, the

proceeds of the charity drive

which amounted to more than

CHF450 where donated evenly to

the World Food Programme and

The Animal Sanctuary.

The invigorating break-of-

pace events brought people

together through fun and com-

passion. The SRC planned well to

encourage donations through

miscellaneous activities, which

made students more interested

and willing to donate.

6 | T h e B I G N e w s

W I N E C L U B By Natasha Niklaus

11th March saw the return of our

monthly wine appreciation club.

We were joined with close to 30

fellow students and the club was

led by Mr. Georgiou. Students

paid a 5fr. entry fee to enjoy four

different wines, two white and

two red, with specific instructive

lessons on how they should

taste the wine and what

aromas they should look

out for.

This time we were

introduced to a vertical

wine tasting of an

Australian Nottage Hill

Chardonnay. This is

done by taking the same wine

but with two different vintages

and comparing them, in this case

the 2014 and 2015. Most stu-

dents were surprised with the

apparent difference between the

two, with everyone agreeing the

2014 vintage was nicer and the

2015 still needed some time.

We also tried two Australian

reds, both Shiraz. One was a

2013 Heathcote, other a 2014

Nottage Hill. Students once

again preferred the earlier vin-

tage of these two wines.

It was a lot of fun having

another wine club and I want to

thank all of those who joined us,

helped out, and to Mr. Georgiou

for guiding the club. Hope to see

everyone again at the next club,

look out for signup sheets when

you return from break!

Wine of the month

Mrs. Carrie Ann Brühlmann recommends the Perelada 5

Finques Reserva 2012, which was simply divine. This wine

has five major grape varietals: Cabernet, Garnacha Tinta,

Merlot, Syrah and Tempranillo, hence the name 5

Finques, or 5 properties. Produced the DO-Emporadà

Costa Brava region of Spain, the winery has a rich history

in makinging wines, but majorly red and rosés.

This is a very elegant and complex wine with all of its

aromas. I found that it has an amazing nose, specifically

hints of dried berries, maple sugar, wood notes, cassis,

and spice. It had a very pleasant and fruity taste with a

spice to it, with medium tannins and a medium to long

length to it. I would recommend to drink this wine with

something grilled or BBQ. If you get a chance, definitely

give this one a try!

T h e B I G N e w s | 7

Work and Leisure The MMU Student Experience in Lucerne

Continued from front page

Aside from activities and

tours around the campus and

Lucerne city, the MMU group was

also treated to visits to the

Bürgenstock Resort construction

site and the Eichhof brewery. In

Lucerne they had special back-

of-house tours in the National

Hotel and Palace Hotel, as well as

a short walking tour in the

pristine city.

In the little free time they

have, the MMU students also

took a round trip of the Lucerne

Lake on ferry. This was followed

by a much anticipated dinner of

Swiss cheese fondue at the

Schiff Restaurant.

Coming Soon:

One class.

Three days.

Three Events.

Brought to you by BA-IHEM students.

Only at IMI.

Did you hear …?

“What flavours of ice cream do you have?”

inquired the customer.

“Vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate,”

answered the new waitress in a hoarse whisper.

Trying to be sympathetic, the customer asked,

“Do you have laryngitis?”

“No….” replied the new waitress with some

effort, “just… erm …

vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate.”

One BIG Final Say

Quote to Remember:

A GOOD

DISSERTATION

IS THE ONE THAT

YOU ACTUALLY

FINISH.

~ Prof Theodore Benetatos

I has Easter egg.

THIS big,

no lie.