8th edition

Laureates

First Place: Rubina Insam

Rubina Insam, a student from École Hôtelière de Lausanne, has won the 8th edition of the Hyatt Student Prize, Leaders of Tomorrow. The award ceremony took place on 8 December 2015 in Grand Hyatt Cannes Hôtel Martinez.

In her own words…

« Upon graduating from Ecole hôtelière de Lausanne’s MSc. program in Global Hospitality Business, I joined PwC Switzerland’s Real Estate Advisory Team. Based in Geneva, we provide real estate valuation, transaction and general consulting services related to real estate for our clients in the French- speaking part of Switzerland.

Amongst other experiences it was my one-week stay at the Hyatt headquarter in Chicago, during which I got the chance to exchange with leaders from hotel development that sparked my interest for real estate. It lead me to conduct an internship in real estate investment for serviced apartment projects.

I consider The Hyatt Student Prize one of the most enriching experiences in my personal and professional life. The ambitiousness paired with the desire for fun of the other participants together with the inspirational paths of the jury members and the dynamism of the Hyatt team have been an inspiration for my approach to life. »

Selection of the candidates

A total of 18 schools specialized in international hospitality were selected to join the competition. Following the competition’s requirements, each student had to be at least 21 years old, prepare a Master’s degree and speak English fluently. A first selection, based on the student files and video presentations, was made by the pre selection jury members on November 2015. Then, 8 finalists were selected to participate to the ceremony and final competition.

8 finalists

Althea JOHNSON University of North Texas, School of Merchandising and Hospitality Management

Rubina INSAM École hôtelière de Lausanne

Lalla-Zahra HARMATALLAH SBAI AIM

Conrad Peter SOKOLNICKI The Emirates Academy of Hospitality Management

Caroline LUCAS IMHI – ESSEC

Justine MARCHAND La Rochelle Business School / Sup de Co La Rochelle

Gil GENIN Oxford School of Hospitality Management

Thomas Pao-Yuan TSENG Hong Kong Polytechnic University

 

Jury members

Year after year, these personalities represent a variety of backgrounds from the worlds of luxury hospitality, international upscale business, entrepreneurship, sports, entertainment, etc.

Gerard Petit – Jury Member

Gerard Petit is Vice-President Sales, La Première Air France-Commercial, Sales & Marketing Division. Some of his previous experience in management includes Regional Director Southwest France and Regional Delegate for Southern Cone (Argentina, Chili, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia). Southern Cone (Argentina, Chili, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia).

Vincent Ducrey – Jury Member

Co-founder & CEO at HUB Institute

Arian Steinbeck – Jury Member

Managing Director – RPW Design Ltd

Jan Tissera – Jury Member

President International – TravelClick

Laurent Cintrat – Jury Member

Vice President Sales – Danone

Frank Lavey – Jury Member

Senior Vice President Operations Administration Hyatt Hotels and Resorts