We are happy and excited to announce the new Bongde Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, Paro Bhutan. This is the official name of the hotel school. We obtained the license from the government of Bhutan, in early December, and are now official.
I would like to introduce you to our team:
Rieki Crins had the vision and idea, and was the initiator of the project. She was later joined by Piero Grandi, who was instrumental in making it happen. Ms. Clara Blanc from Lausanne Smile, an NGO, who creates hotel schools all over the world, mainly in emerging markets, joined the project in 2014. Adrien Rebord and Auke Thijssen, two young alumni’s from the Lausanne Hotel School and The Hague, respectively. They also joined the project in 2014 and are in the field to set up and run the school, with our local partner Mr. Tshewang Norbu.
We have rented an established hotel in Paro that will be upgraded to a 4 star hotel and school. 15 Bathrooms will be renovated and the kitchen in the hotel will be rebuilt. This will create a suitable hotel school for training. In additon, Bongde has a dormitory for the students, on site.
The plan is to enroll 40 students, 20 girls and 20 boys, by March 2015.
This project is badly needed in Bhutan. Bongde Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (BIHT) will give all these young people a future. The training and skills that they will learn will provide them with a career in the growing tourist sector.
Still a lot of work needs to be done and I would like to ask for your financial support. Please contact Rieki Crins to discuss how you could help scale up this project.
The institute
Mr. Tshewang Norbu, our local counterpart
Adrien and Auke
Learning Exchange Foundation 