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