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EHL REINVENTS THE MBA: A NEW ERA OF HUMAN-CENTRIC LEADERSHIP (Switzerland)
EHL Hospitality Business School announces the launch of its fully redesigned, AACSB-accredited MBA, available from August 2026. |
Category: Europe - Switzerland - Careers
- Career
This is a press release selected by our editorial committee and published online for free on Friday 31 October 2025
The new program now opens its doors to professionals across a broader range of service sectors—from hospitality, tourism and leisure, to luxury, finance and tech—while preserving EHL's distinctive DNA: human-centric leadership and sustainable value creation.
The goal? Empowering professionals to lead people-centered businesses and thrive in the experience economy.
Globally, the MBA is making astrong comeback. In 2024, international applications rose by 13.2%[1], while job postings targeting MBA graduates surged by 35.6% — even as global job listings across all sectors declined by 10.8%. In this volatile context, both professionals and employers are turning to the MBA as a strategic asset.
Today's MBA is no longer just an academic credential — it's a powerful tool for career security, transferable skills, and organizational impact.
EHL's new MBA is designed to meet this shift head-on. Delivered over 18 months in a hybrid format, the program blends online learning with immersive residential weeks in Lausanne and Singapore, offering a global, hands-on experience.
Participants develop12 future-ready competencies— from human-centric leadership to innovative customer experience design — through a curriculum that mirrors the complexities of the real world. This model ensures graduates gain deeply embedded skills rooted in hospitality excellence, academically rigorous and immediately applicable across a wide range of service industries.
But this transformation goes beyond market trends. It reflects a deeper evolution in career paths: increasingly hybrid, cross-sector, and non-linear.
Focused on transversal competencies rather than traditional disciplines, the MBA is built for mid-career professionals seeking to strengthen their leadership, enhance both managerial and interpersonal capabilities, and advance their careers without having to pause their current responsibilities. The program offers the flexibility and depth needed to turn professional experience into a lasting impact.
Participants can tailor their journey through a range of specializations, includingShaping Hotel Management Strategies,Finance, Real Estate & Investment Strategies, andLeading Luxury & Retail Experiences, with other options to be considered in the future.
At the heart of the program is a commitment to human-centric learning to accompany the individual leadership journey of each student: personal development is integrated throughout the curriculum, from modules to immersions, with customized activities and coaching. Applied projects embedded in the program allow participants to test and refine their skills in real-world business contexts.
Ranked #1 by QS in Hospitality & Leisure Management (2019–2025), EHL is taking a leading role in redefining the modern MBA. Accredited by AACSB and NECHE — symbols of academic excellence and global recognition — the new program combines intellectual rigor, global perspective, and a profoundly human approach to prepare leaders for the complex challenges of the service economy.
“This new MBA equips professionals to combine strategic thinking, critical analysis, and human-centric leadership. With its focus on future-ready skills, it's a reimagined MBA for a world in transformation,” saysDr. Nicole Hinrichs, Associate Dean of Degree Programs at EHL.
Whether advancing within an organization, pivoting to a new role, or launching a venture, graduates of EHL's MBA will be ready to redefine excellence in the hospitality industry and beyond, and shape a sustainable, experience-driven economy centered on people.
[1]According to GMAC (2024) – Graduate Management Admission Council
About EHL
EHL – originally founded as Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne – is a hospitality management and business education group and recognized as the global leader in hospitality. EHL welcomes a student body of 4,000 from more than 120 nationalities across 3 campuses in Switzerland and Singapore.
Our holistic approach to education, a hallmark of the Swiss system, seamlessly integrates academic rigor with hands-on experience and a deep commitment to human connection. At EHL, we educate hearts, hands, and minds. Within our two institutions we shape confident, versatile, and resilient leaders for careers in hospitality and wider experience-driven sectors:
- EHL Hospitality Business School, accredited by AACSB, NECHE and consistently ranked at the top of its field, offering undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs that deliver practical leadership, strategy, and operational insights.
- EHL School of Practical Arts, providing vocational programs in hospitality, boasting expertise from 6 “Meilleurs Ouvriers de France” and an awarded and Michelin-starred academic restaurant.
 Photo credit © EHL Hospitality Business School
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