Posted on Oct.25, 2026 by Dong Quanyue|Qingdao Vocational and Technical College of Hotel Management
A delegation from the International Hotel Management Institute Switzerland(IMI), led by Chairman Zhou Rui and President-General David Hailstones, visited our college on October 22, accompanied by Song Yingtao, Director of the International Education Exchange and Cooperation Committee of Qingdao Chinese Vocational Education Society, and other officials.
President Han introduced the college's overall profile, distinctive features and disciplinary strengths, highlighted its achievements in international education, and promoted Qingdao's urban characteristics and locational advantages. He noted that the two institutions, guided by demand orientation and mutual learning, could build on Switzerland's strengths in education while integrating our college's characteristics, deepen cooperation in the health and wellness industry, and advance practical projects in areas such as Chinese Language + Vocational Skills and joint curriculum development, exploring pathways to jointly cultivate internationally-oriented talent for the modern service industry and to enroll international students.
Chairman Zhou Rui briefed on the IMI's profile. Founded in 1991 and located in Kastanienbaum on the shores of Lake Lucerne, Switzerland, IMI is a private higher education institution with students from over 40 countries worldwide. Featuring hotel management as its core discipline, it offers undergraduate and MBA programs taught entirely in English, with degrees jointly conferred by IMI Switzerland and Manchester Metropolitan College of the UK. It ranks 13th globally in the 2026 QS World College Rankings for Hospitality and Leisure Management.
The two sides agreed to establish a regular cooperation mechanism, uphold the principles of mutual benefit and mutual learning, abide by the educational regulations of both countries, and actively explore cooperation models in discipline alignment, skills exchange and the joint cultivation of international students.
Following the talks, the delegation visited the Yuemei Traditional Handicraft Arts Education Center, the Intelligent IoT Training Center, the Hismile Smart Digital Hotel and other industry-education integration training bases.
This visit marks an important practice for our college in serving the Belt and Road Initiative and advancing educational opening-up.
The college will coordinate the preparatory work for the cooperation programs, ensure the fruitful implementation of the exchange outcomes, and contribute to Sino-Swiss educational and people-to-people exchange.
