Glion Institute of Higher Education reshapes its Master’s portfolio to develop business leaders for the experience economy

As experience becomes an increasingly important driver of value across hospitality, luxury, wellness and other service-led industries, Glion Institute of Higher Education is reshaping its Master’s portfolio to prepare business leaders through the distinctive lens of hospitality.

The evolution builds on more than 60 years of expertise in developing skills historically associated with hospitality: understanding people, anticipating needs, designing experiences, managing multicultural teams and creating value through service.

These capabilities are increasingly transferable across the wider experience economy, a reality already reflected in Glion alumni careers, with around half of its hospitality graduates working outside traditional hospitality five years after graduation.

Three Master’s degrees reshaped around new business realities

For 2027, Glion’s three full-time Master’s degrees – International Hospitality Business, Luxury Experience & Brand Management, and Real Estate, Finance and Hotel Development – feature redesigned curricula combining two academic semesters with six months of professional application through an internship with Applied Research Report or a Business Research Project.

The Master’s in International Hospitality Business sees the most significant structural evolution. Following a common semester focused on business, operations and leadership, students choose between three new specialised pathways: Guest Experience & Service Design, Entrepreneurship & Innovation, and Wellness & Longevity, complemented by electives in areas including brand strategy, AI and real estate investment.

Wellness & Longevity illustrates the expanding boundaries of the experience economy. Its curriculum addresses Wellbeing & Longevity Business Models, Preventive Health, Lifestyle & Guest Behaviour, Experience Design for Wellbeing Journeys and Resorts & Destination Strategy, preparing leaders to apply hospitality’s expertise in service, personalisation and experience to emerging wellness and longevity concepts.

The Master’s in Luxury Experience & Brand Management combines Luxury Business Models & Innovation, Consumer Behaviour, Digital Luxury Ecosystems & AI and Responsible Luxury with strategy, finance and creative direction. Students also tackle a real strategic or operational challenge from a partner company through an Industry Business Project.

Meanwhile, the Master’s in Real Estate, Finance and Hotel Development develops the financial and investment dimension of hospitality leadership, spanning real estate markets, asset management, valuation, private equity, M&A and sustainable real estate, alongside industry-recognised STR and Bloomberg certifications.

Joseph Karam, Dean of Graduate Studies, Glion Institute of Higher Education, said:

“The future belongs to graduates who can combine strategic thinking with the ability to adapt continuously. That is exactly what this new generation of Master’s programs has been designed to develop. Beyond disciplinary expertise, our students learn to navigate complexity, work with emerging technologies, lead diverse teams and solve real business challenges alongside industry partners. This is how we prepare future-ready leaders for an experience economy that continues to reinvent itself.”

AI and expertise drawn directly from industry

AI is integrated as a business and leadership capability rather than treated as a standalone topic. Courses including Digital, Data & AI for Decision-Makers and Digital Luxury Ecosystems & AI teach students to use technology to strengthen analysis and decision-making while developing the critical judgement to recognise where human expertise remains decisive.

Teaching methods are evolving alongside the curricula, with greater emphasis on advance preparation, case analysis and problem-solving, enabling classroom time to focus on applying knowledge to complex situations.

Faculty also bring contemporary industry experience directly into the classroom. Dr Jinju Heo, who teaches Sustainability, Governance & Responsible Decisions, has served for several years as an innovation advisor at Chanel, alongside innovation and sustainability projects for other major clients. Dr Evrim de Groot, teaching Cross-Cultural Consumer Behaviour & Clientele Practice, specialises in luxury business management and researches how luxury and consumer behaviours are evolving in response to socio-economic change.

Learning with industry, not simply about industry

Across the portfolio, students engage with the professional world through field trips, visiting executives, industry weeks and applied business projects. The International Hospitality Business Master’s, for example, includes an Industry Business Project where students address a genuine company challenge and present their recommendations directly to the business. This reflects Glion’s broader philosophy: developing business leadership not only by studying industries, but by confronting the decisions, people and challenges shaping them.

Philippe Vignon, Managing Director of Glion, commented:

“Hospitality is no longer simply an industry; it has become a leadership mindset that increasingly shapes luxury, travel, wellness and the wider experience economy. Our role is not simply to respond to change but to anticipate it. By evolving our Master’s portfolio, we are building on over 60 years of educational excellence to prepare graduates who combine strategic business acumen, technological fluency and the human capabilities that will remain the defining differentiator of exceptional experiences.”

Ranked No. 3 worldwide for Hospitality & Leisure Management in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2026, Glion continues to apply more than six decades of hospitality expertise to developing business leaders capable of creating value wherever experience matters, operating across campuses in Switzerland and London. Glion is part of Sommet Education, world leader in education and training in hospitality, luxury and culinary arts.