Do you have your heart set on a high-flying international career – perhaps in Tokyo, New York or Costa Rica? Or do you want to become a service expert – whether that be in hospitality or finance, real estate and consulting? Then a Master’s program at EHL is the right path for you! Not only does it offer a great complement to any Bachelor’s degree, it gives you a razor-sharp competitive edge for a future in the global service industry. But how to distinguish between EHL's MiHM and MGH programs so that you can choose the right Master’s that best suits your needs?
When it comes to choosing a Master's program, though, many students feel uncertain. One of the most frequent questions we get from prospective students is defining the difference between our Master in Hospitality Management (MiHM) and Master in Global Hospitality (MGH). After all, they do share a lot of similarities.
Our advice? Ask yourself these 5 questions, and the truth will come to light.
1. What’s your dream career?
Do you have your heart set on being the CEO of a Fortune 500 hotel group, or the GM of a small boutique hotel in the Maldives?
The MGH - quite literally – introduces you to the exclusive world of hospitality. If offers a broad-horizon, 360° overview of the hospitality industry, prepares you for the challenge of navigating the fast-paced, dynamic and multi-cultural world of hospitality. Graduates from the MGH program typically end up becoming CEOs, board members or top-level managers of exclusive, international hospitality companies.
Do you want the flexibility to work in just about any industry, and best-in-class service skills?
The MiHM is somewhat considered to be the ‘Swiss army knife’ of Master’s programs, as it prepares students with all-encompassing managerial skills for a career both within and beyond the hospitality industry. With specialization options in F&B management or hospitality finance, real estate and consulting, the program offers a more tailored and specialized curriculum to help students prepare for a future in the diverse service industry – whatever that may be. With this program, career opportunities are practically endless!
2. Where do you want to study?
The MGH is your ticket to the world!
The program spans across three different campuses on three continents: EHL Lausanne, Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Houston University – and offers a unique perspective of the complexity and different cultural needs within the global hospitality industry.
Jet-setting from the get-go, you’ll go on field trips from Paris to Lisbon, Macau to Shanghai and Mexico to Las Vegas. The program is specially designed to help you curate a solid international network, as you’ll be making connections with students and professionals from all over the world. In the final semester, the signature Capstone project will help you apply your problem-solving skills to real-world scenarios and show off your skills to future employers.
You’ll graduate in the US, and will quickly find that job offers are rolling in. In fact, the vast majority of our students have secured a job by the time they graduate.
The MiHM is “Swiss-made” in every aspect!
The program is designed for those who want to learn by doing – with the Swiss touch of precision, quality and best-in-class service. It takes place entirely on EHL’s brand new Lausanne campus with a diverse group of students from all over the world. Here, students are offered a rich variety of modules and take part in field trips across the whole of Europe, guest speaker sessions and personalized side classes leading to extra certification. Students will also have the opportunity to embark on a 12-week work placement during the program - anywhere in the world – and many of our candidates go on to work for those employers upon graduation.
“It doesn’t matter what background you’re from, but if you have a drive to offer the best possible service to your clients, this would be a great program for you,” says one of our MiHM alumni.
As an EHL graduate (from any program), you’ll also have access to our Career Center, Career Fairs (featuring 200 companies and over 450 recruiters) and our expansive alumni network of 25,000 students across 150 countries.
3. What type of learning environment are you looking for?
You might be asking yourself: who will my classmates be and where do they come from? Have they already worked? And what’s the average age of the students in each respective program? Or maybe you’re curious to learn more about the faculty.
In the MGH, classes are slightly smaller, with about 35 students, offering a slightly more personalized and tailored teaching approach. Most of our MGH students are around 25 years old, though none exceed the age of 32.
“My classmates gave me a lot of different cultural experiences and helped me to develop my personal and social skills – which really helps me in my daily work now,” says Robin Wang, a recent MGH graduate.
In contrast, in the the MiHM, class sizes consist of approximately 40-50 students. Our MiHM students are also around 25 years of age, although in this program we’re more likely to see students of all ages.
In both classes, our faculty consists of a diverse set of professors from all around the world – the majority of whom have PhDs from prestigious universities or worked as executives in top-class hotels. Find out more about our professors here.
4. How much work experience do you have?
The MGH requires that applicants have a minimum of 1 year of professional experience under their belts, though most students who apply have worked in the industry for 1-2 years. The MiHM is a little more flexible – and requires that applicants have a minimum of 6 months of work experience.
But remember: any work experience counts – including internships, evening jobs or both paid and unpaid work experience. We also highly value general life experience and your passion and enthusiasm for working in the sector.
The purpose of both programs is to help you garner all of the knowledge, soft skills and real-life experience to build a rock-solid resumé for a running start to your career.
5. What’s your timeline?
The MGH takes place over the course of 16-months (full-time), and has two entry dates: February and September.
This is what you’ll get:
- Semester 1: Lausanne, where you’ll build the foundations for strategic decision-making, and learn techniques and tools to develop your individual skills.
Field trips to Lisbon, Berlin and Paris - Semester 2: Hong Kong, where you’ll gain expertise in strategic decision-making within operations management and get the opportunity to practice your skills.
Field trips to Macau, Beijing and Shanghai - Semester 3: Houston, where you’ll develop your talent for managing people and technology within a global organization and fine-tune your leadership skills.
- Field trips to Washington, New York and Las Vegas
The MiHM runs for a total of 18-months (full-time), including the 3-month work placement and has only one entry date in September.
This is what you’ll get:
- 3 semesters in Lausanne, Switzerland
- Semester 1: Hospitality & Service Management, where you’ll deepen your competencies in hospitality management.
- Semester 2: Specialization track, where you’ll hone your skills in an area of interest, including: F&B management or Finance, Real Estate and Consulting.
- Semester 3: Professional immersion, where you’ll experience real-life situations and exercise your managerial skills.
Students with a Bachelor’s degree in a management field not related to hospitality will also undergo a pre-semester summer course in Hospitality Management Fundamentals.
Hopefully, we’ve been able to offer some insight into which program is a better fit for you. In the end, there’s no one right choice for everyone. A career is simply a succession of choices that each offer a different path. Just keep your dreams in sight and ultimately follow your instinct. No matter which program you choose, it will be an excellent investment for your future. And we’ll be there to guide you every step of the way.
