Monday, May 19, 2014

Job Opportunity - Country Representative for Alpine Center

ALPINE CENTER, the Swiss Business School for Hotel & Tourism Management Education, Switzerland, has an opening for a Country Representative in charge of a new operation and training center, in a very stable French Speaking African Country.

She/he will be in charge of building up the presence in this country, and together with our partners, organize to recruit students for our Hospitality Training programs which are offered in French and English.

Candidates must have a Master’s or BA’s Degree, preferably in hotel management, be  flexible and dynamic, and fluent in French and English.

Start July 2014.

Please send your CV with photo and covering letter in English to: shofmann@swissalpinecenter.com

admissions@swissalpinecenter.com
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Job Opportunity - Account Executive for White Key

White Key is a boutique company offering a portfolio of over 160 of the finest luxury villas available for rent throughout Greece, complemented by a wide range of customized services. The clients of White Key are usually some of the world’s most affluent families and often celebrities.

White Key is looking to expand and is searching for motivated individuals, interested in the upscale tourism and real estate sector, to join its team.


Current opening: Account Executive
  • Located in winter time in central offices for sales.
  • Summer time to travel around two months in islands for preparations for reservations.
  • Remuneration: around 1,000€ net plus traveling expenses
The ideal candidate will possess:
  • A University Degree and at least 3 years of experience in a relevant sector
  • Speak Greek, English and at least 1 more foreign language (both oral and written)
  • Drive and enthusiasm to work in a relatively new tourism-related sector with a team of young entrepreneurs
  • Service-oriented mentality and outgoing personality
  • An understanding of the high-end tourism market
  • Excellent communication skills, both written and oral
  • An artistic “flair”
  • Maturity and the ability to handle unexpected situations
  • A broad international exposure will be a plus
  • Able to travel extensively
  • Driving license necessary

The person who will join will be exposed to most aspects of the operations of the company, mainly the following:
  • Active sales
  • Contact with clients prior to arrival for all the necessary arrangements
  • Co-ordination of services provided by third parties
  • Meeting clients upon arrival
  • Public relations
You may send CV with photo included at hr@alpine.edu.gr

admissions@swissalpinecenter.com
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Saturday, May 10, 2014

European Business Awards and World Travel Awards this year in Athens, Greece

Two significant award ceremonies will take place in Athens, Greece this year.

European Business Awards



Since 2007, the European Business Awards has been shining a light on the most innovative businesses on the continent by promoting success, innovation and ethics in the European business community.

In 2012, the EBAs engaged with over 17,000 organisations in over 31 countries. Showcasing the best in class, the winners from a diverse range of industries including cosmetics, engineering, fashion, online businesses, manufacturing and transport, were congratulated by an audience comprising heads of state, leading industrialists, entrepreneurs, business leaders, media owners and academics from across 31 European nations.

Participants represented a combined turnover of over €1 trillion Euros (8.23% of EU GDP)*, employing over 2.7 million people.

The 100 Ruban d’Honneur recipients and 30 National Public Champions will be celebrated at a gala event reception that will be held at The Westin Astir Palace Resort, Vouliagmeni, Athens in Greece on 27th May 2014. The event promises to be the biggest ever with networking sessions and seminars taking place over 2 full days.

European Business Awards Head of Events Jacqueline Yanko said, "We are absolutely delighted to be hosting our prestigious gala event in Athens this year. The continued and increasing success of Greek businesses in the competition showcases perfectly our aim to recognise and promote excellence, best practice and innovation in the European Business community”.

The 10 category winners and 1 European Public Champion will be announced in front of an audience of business leaders, academics, media and political representatives from across Europe.

Athens is a fantastic city, steeped in history and regarded as a foundation stone for so many elements of modern society. The European Business Awards is proud to welcome business leaders from some of the very best organisations across Europe to sample the famous Greek hospitality and we look forward to seeing you there!


World Travel Awards


World Travel Awards (WTA), the "Oscars of the travel industry", has unveiled plans to visit Greece for the first time, with Divani Apollon Palace & Thalasso, Athens, set to host its Europe Gala Ceremony on 2nd August 2014.

Senior representatives from Europe's finest travel brands are scheduled to attend WTA's Europe Gala Ceremony 2014 as they vie to win the most coveted accolade in the industry.

The red-carpet evening is being held in partnership with the Greek Tourism Ministry, the Greek National Tourism Organisation, the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises and Divani Collection Hotels, and will include a gala dinner, top entertainment as well as the presentation of the most coveted awards in the industry.

Guests will also have the opportunity to participate in a full itinerary over the weekend, a "journey through Greece," giving an insight into both its illustrious history and its vibrant contemporary culture.

The WTA organisers highlight the significance of hosting the VIP ceremony in Athens.

Graham E Cooke, President & Founder, WTA, says: "We are delighted to host our first ceremony in Greece, a decision that reflects the crucial contribution that tourism makes to the national economy. The Greek tourism sector is enjoying a renaissance, with last year's double-digit growth predicted to continue in 2014 as it continues to grow market share."

He adds: "The selection of our hosts is fundamental to the success of our awards programme, and Athens possesses all the ingredients to rise to the challenge of hosting our Europe Ceremony 2014. As Europe's oldest city, Athens beautifully balances its 2,500-year history with a vibrant contemporary culture scene."

The ceremony will take place at the luxury beach resort of Divani Apollon Palace & Thalasso. Situated in the exclusive area of Vouliagmeni, just 18km from Athens city centre, the resort's stunning beachfront location combined with one of the most luxurious Thalassotherapy centres in Europe make it a destination for well-being and relaxation.

Niki Fotiou, Marketing & PR Manager, Divani Collection Hotels, says: "Divani Apollon Palace & Thalasso is privileged to host the World Travel Awards Europe Gala Ceremony. We are proud to bring this event to Greece for the first time and to offer an impressive 'journey' through Greece to more than 500 travel tourism and hospitality professionals."

The Europe Ceremony 2014 will mark the third leg of WTA's Grand Tour, a global search for the world's finest travel brands, which also includes regional heats in Dubai, Ecuador and Anguilla. The winners of these regional heats will progress to the Grand Final, which will take place in December 2014.

source: www.worldtravelawards.com

admissions@swissalpinecenter.com
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Monday, April 28, 2014

Giving is the best communication

  • Hospitality is about guests.

  • Hospitality is about services.
  •   Hospitality is about figures.
Furthermore...
  • Hospitality is all about giving the guest exactly what they are looking for and more.
  • Hospitality is about human values. It gives the opportunity to deliver what money can't buy. It's a way of understanding better the meaning of giving and what life is all about.
  • Giving is the best communication and all of us involved in the hospitality industry should remember that there is more than gaining customers at any cost.
Watch the video and get inspired!

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Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Themis Trakas success story


Inside HVS
Personality Profile of the Month - Themis Trakas

By Dorothy Jennings

Tuesday April 8, 2014

Themis Trakas




The fictional character of Eloise captured the imagination of millions of readers based upon her elegant address. The idea of a little girl residing at w hat some people refer to as the ”Greatest Hotel in the World”, the Plaza Hotel located in New York City, w as a divine escape from the mundane. Fashioned after a French Chateau with a marble lobby, mahogany doors and 1,650 crystal chandeliers, the Plaza is quite unique … .. and w hat could be more fun than dining at the Palm Court on rainy days? Today, an oil painting of Eloise hangs outside this restaurant, and is visited by many elegant ladies-w ho-lunch holding the hands of their darling granddaughters. 
Well, HVS’ own Themis Trakas experienced childhood at numerous five-star luxury hotels including Sheratons, Mandarin Orientals, Fairmonts, Carltons, and Hiltons as he traveled the globe with his father, an Olympic Airways Boeing 747 captain.

As a military and civil aviation pilot for 41 years, Themis’ dad infected his young son with a fascination for aircraft and aviation as they regularly visited New York, Toronto, Montreal, Singapore, Johannesburg, and Sydney. Themis dreamt of following in his father’s footsteps as a pilot, having become quite comfortable in the cockpit.

At 15, Themis was at home in the cockpit of a Boeing 747 cruising over the Atlantic Ocean on the way to NYC from Athens, Greece, with his father, the Captain!
However, as he neared the end of his high school years in the late 80’s, his father recommended that he explore the idea of pursuing a career in the hotel industry. Upon serious reflection, he had vivid memories of the hostelries where they had stayed, and this suggestion began to percolate in his thinking.

Paris Air Show
After completing his mandatory military service, Themis enrolled in the Swiss Alpine Center hotel school of higher education based in Greece in 1989 to determine if the hospitality industry would be a good fit. For the next six years, he pursued his education in Greece, Switzerland, and the U.S.A., followed by a 2-year program for an MBA in 2001. Everything clicked, and he garnered 10 years of experience in hotel operations, ultimately finding himself in an ideal position to accept the offer from HVS in Athens in 2006.
Demetris Spanos, Managing Director of HVS Athens, gives Themis the highest accolades, “Themis is a definite asset for our office. He was the first to join the group, when the legal entity of the HVS Athens was originally introduced. He is enthusiastic and knowledgeable regarding the industry. I can always depend on Themis to produce a quality assignment, and he is always willing to share his expertise with his colleagues. His sense of humor puts things in perspective. I really trust this individual and I consider him as a member of my family."

Themis is serving as Vice President of the Cornell Hotel Society, Pan-Hellenic Chapter in Greece.
Still passionate about discovering new world venues, HVS has provided Themis with amazing opportunities. The most exciting destinations, and the assignments he has particularly enjoyed, include Morocco which he visited on three separate occasions in 2008; Kuwait, Mauritius; Antigua; the City of Pozzuoli in Italy; Tel Aviv; and Croatia.

Greek Mirage 2000 Fighter Jet
Though he did not fulfill his youthful fantasy of becoming a pilot, Themis developed a strong enthusiasm for aviation photography. He is an avid fan of military air shows and while living in the United States from 1992 to 2003, his weekends were devoted to traversing the East Coast to attend every air show scheduled to photograph the exciting exhibitions.

 
 
Sybil Hofmann, President International Programmes at Swiss Alpine Center, The Swiss Business School for International Hotel & Tourism and Director at City Unity College/International Hospitality & Tourism Management Department, says about Themis:

“Themis Trakas is an exemplary alumnus that is the dream of every college. We were so happy to have Themis as a student in the very first two years of his formation in the field of hotel management after which he transferred to our Swiss school in Switzerland to complete the third year of his studies.  His ultimate dream was to have a Cornell education and that’s where he headed next. Working in the US was another goal he had set and he further combined this with furthering his education to the MBA level in New York. What happened next is he planned to return to Greece, a great move because Greece needs such professionals to drive its hospitality industry to newer heights. Themis lost no time in visiting his alma mater and offering his services. He was appointed as a member of the Advisory Board and not only. He joined the academic team as a guest lecturer, launching second year students into their Integrated Project at the beginning of the year, counselling them during the year, and acting as a panelist at the end of the year when the teams presented their projects.

I have no words to describe Themis’ commitment, devotion and loyalty to his first alma mater, Alpine Center!!  I only wish to express my heartfelt gratitude to a young man who believes in the future of the tourism industry in Greece and in contributing to the professional development of the new generation of hospitality management professionals".


admissions@swissalpinecenter.com
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