This July saw 77 young people from around the world come together at the Les Roches campus in Bluche, Switzerland to explore the exciting industry of hospitality. The 2018 Les Roches Summer Program was jam-packed with fun activities and special visits to various locations around Switzerland. Here’s a glance of what we were up to, from visiting iconic cities of Switzerland to discovering the world of marketing and patisserie in Les Roches’ very own classrooms and kitchens.
Day 1 – Goodies and Golf
On Sunday afternoon, 15th of July, summer camp participants were greeted on-campus with a warm welcome, and found a bag filled with Les Roches goodies and amenities waiting for them in their dorm! To break the ice between the campers, all were brought to Crans Montana to see the prestigious holiday destination. From Crans, we took a walk to Montana and played mini-golf until dinner time, by then, everyone had been well acquainted with each other.
Experiencing real-world hospitality
The day time of the first week involved visiting the canton capital of Sion, to see day-to-day life in Switzerland. There were also introductory speeches to the world of hospitality and marketing, a visit to a 5-star luxury hotel, whitewater rafting and tours in the Cheese factory of Gruyère and the Cailler chocolate factory. In the cheese factory we enjoyed a traditional lunch of fondue with boiled potatoes and pickles.
On one of those days, high in the mountains, at 2,220 metres, we toured the popular Cry d’Er Restaurant & Club and the 4-star Chetzeron hotel, learning what they each offer to guests. The nights on campus were occupied with something different every time, such as movie nights, quiz night, and disco night.
‘A panoramic view of nearly 30 mountains’
On the second week, with the arrival of new participants, we all did team building activities to get to know each other better. We visited the car-free town of Zermatt and took the funicular to Gornergrat on Europe’s highest open-air cog railway. There, we had a magnificent panoramic view of nearly 30 mountains, all above 4000 metres, including the infamous Matterhorn. (Adipex)
On another day we visited Vevey and Nestlé’s food museum, the Alimentarium, and took a boat ride to Switzerland’s most visited historic castle, ‘Chateau Chillon’. All the Summer Program participants took part in a paintball tournament, put into four groups to compete against each other with the victorious team achieving the most points. As well as a trip to ‘The Fun Forest’, an adventure park high in the tree-tops.
Food, friends and 5-star luxury
On the last evening, a farewell Gala Dinner was held in honour of everyone involved with the camp, which was hosted at Crans Ambassador, a 5-Star luxury Resort. Some tears were shed, lots of pictures were taken and within two weeks, lifetime’s friendships were created.
Registration is now open for our 2019 Summer Program in Spain, Switzerland and China. Join us for one week or two, experience real-world hospitality, meet international friends and have the best summer of your life. Find out more and book your place at https://www.lesroches.edu/programs/summer/
Written by Susan and Edouard, Summer Program 2018 chaperones.
