HONG KONG - China remains on the cutting edge of global tourism with the widespread use of digital wallets and the rise of service robots and AI in the hospitality industry.

Unlike in many other countries, tourists in China are relying more and more on their smartphones to make payments instead of bringing cash or credit cards with them when they travel, said Chen Yong, an associate professor at EHL Hospitality Business School in Switzerland.

“You make purchases--almost anything—on your smartphones. It’s quite different from Europe or maybe the US. You don’t bring any cash with you,” said Chen. “People do not use cash. People do not use credit cards. People use smartphones. Smartphones are everything.”

Markus Venzin, EHL CEO, said there is a growing demand for hotel management staff in China to ensure world-class service is maintained

This and other tech trends are helping China’s tourism industry rebound from the pandemic, with the China Tourism Academy expecting Chinese tourists to make more than 6 billion domestic trips this year.

In 2023, domestic tourism in China saw a remarkable year-on-year growth of over 100 percent in both revenue and number of tourists, bouncing back to over 80 percent of the 2019 level.

With China's tourism market growing further, EHL, the world's top hospitality management school, intends to tap its huge potential and help train future leaders in the nation's hospitality and service industries.

Markus Venzin, EHL CEO, said there is a growing demand for hotel management staff in China to ensure world-class service is maintained.

"We’ve talked with the Ministry of Education about our contribution to this in China so that’s another trend that we’re trying to address," Venzin said.

And it's not just the hospitality sector; EHL is also looking at the large Chinese market for international higher education.

The latest Center for China and Globalization report showed that more than 1.02 million Chinese tertiary students were studying abroad in 2021, highlighting China's position as the biggest source of overseas students in the world.

Through the 2022-23 academic year, China remained the leading source of international students. In the United States, China is the biggest source of foreign students, with about 289,000 students, maintaining the top position for 15 years.

"The market is not only about the tourism market or the Chinese consumer. There is the market for higher education," said Chen. "Which market is growing and which market is growing fast? China. Education. That's the market EHL or maybe Swiss hotel schools cannot miss."

Nestled on Lausanne’s green hills near Lake Geneva, EHL's sprawling and sustainable campus is home to over 4,000 students from 127 countries around the world.

The school, founded in 1893, has consistently ranked in recent years as the top hospitality business school globally, according to QS World University Rankings. Its Chinese student population has grown by 50 percent since 2019.

EHL has 565 Chinese students enrolled in Lausanne, representing 15 percent of its overall student population and forms the third biggest group among its cosmopolitan student body.

Seeing China as a strategically important market, EHL offers a Hospitality Executive MBA with the prestigious China Europe International Business School in Shanghai.

It also has a tie-up with the Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s School of Hotel and Tourism Management for an MA program in Global Hospitality Business.

Since 2017, the Hospitality Institute of Sanya - owned by China Communications Construction Company - in Hainan has been certified by EHL, which is also planning to develop and offer the first EHL International Bachelor Program in Sanya. It aims to have its first batch of enrollees by September 2024

Since 2017, the Hospitality Institute of Sanya - owned by China Communications Construction Company - in Hainan has been certified by EHL, which is also planning to develop and offer the first EHL International Bachelor Program in Sanya. It aims to have its first batch of enrollees by September 2024.

"We are in the process of creating our own operation in Sanya in Hainan. We see that other luxury conglomerates go there and they develop their operations there," Venzin said.

"So, very interesting areas, regions are emerging as luxury tourism destinations. I think that’s one of the trends."

And since 2021, EHL has also been operating an international campus in Singapore with 700 students. It also has offices in Beijing and Shanghai that provide consultancy services and trainings to raise the standards of local businesses and education institutions.

"Because the Chinese market, not just tourism, is huge, we have more presence in Asia now compared to, let's say, six years or ten years ago," Chen said.

"This is because EHL believes the Chinese market is increasingly important. Swiss hospitality has a long history. If we take EHL as an example, it's over 130 years. But traditionally, hospitality was about the hotel management, a narrowly defined sector. But now, it's different, with Air BnB and Uber firms in the hospitality industry," he added.

Hospitality education is evolving with the changing trends in the global tourism and service industry.

"Hospitality is not just a standard of serving a plate, cooking, making bed. It has become a complex operation," Venzin said.

He said they have identified 30 different AI applications that are slowly being used in the hospitality industry, from writing menus to concierge applications.

"I think AI can reduce work load for boring jobs. But obviously, AI cannot make a bed," Venzin said.

"So you can have some sort of concierge application. These are already in place. They are not really diffused because I think hospitality is less prone to innovation. But it’s starting, absolutely," he added.

EHL students learn not just about wine pricing, spa management, or cooking and serving food in Berceau des Sens, its Michelin-starred restaurant. They are also taught about macroeconomics, corporate finance and strategy, data analytics and computational thinking.

"We’re are telling them they need to be able to learn very quickly. So we equip them with competencies they can use in hospitality and beyond," Venzin said.

He said EHL students have the capability to use their experiences in hospitality in other industries if they decide to make a shift.

"That is something that we prepare them for--a career and other industries like luxury, private banking, asset management and so forth," he said.

"We try to teach them what we call savoir-etre. You know, a certain way of being," he added.

Venzin said freshman year is "a little military school" for EHL students, who go to their classes smartly dressed

Venzin said freshman year is "a little military school" for EHL students, who go to their classes smartly dressed.

"They get discipline. They are punctual. If you are going into the hallway at 5 (minutes) to 8 (am), you will see a lot of people running like hell because if they’re late just a minute, they’re sent back," Venzin said.

"They get a note and they cannot enter the classroom. So it’s really very, very disciplined," he added.

Venzin said EHL students learn that service excellence means having an attention to detail precision.

"It means also that you need to be very pragmatic so you can’t just make PowerPoint charts and theorize. You also need to actually do and you need to react quickly. You need to be able to interact with many different cultures," he said.

"They learn to interact in a mature way with a variety of cultures. I think that's unique," he added.

Chinese student Li Shuyao said she will miss the school’s cosmopolitan milieu once she graduates from Lausanne.

“I will miss the international vibe the most when I graduate. We have students here from so many countries,” she said, adding that she intends to pursue a career in asset management.

Cambodian student Pech Panhchakpor Pen said she plans to continue helping École d'Hôtellerie et de Tourisme Paul Dubrule, a vocational school in Cambodia that provides ASEAN-certified programs to underprivileged students who want to join the hospitality industry. The school is also supported by EHL.