Most hospitality management degrees put students in a classroom and call it preparation. AIHM does something structurally different. Students spend two and a half years inside a real luxury hotel in one of the world’s busiest tourism cities, complete two industry internships, and then have the option to transfer to Les Roches in Switzerland or Spain for their final year, graduating with a Les Roches degree. It is a two-country education built around one industry, and it is only available in Bangkok.
AIHM, the Asian Institute of Hospitality & Management, was founded by Minor Hotels, which operates over 640+ properties across 66 countries. The BBA in Global Hospitality Management is taught in academic association with Les Roches, a QS five-star institution ranked consistently among the top four hospitality schools in the world. The curriculum is 90% aligned between the two campuses, which means students who transfer do not repeat courses. They carry their momentum forward.
When Melissa So, a student from Cambodia, chose AIHM, the transfer pathway was central to that decision. “Knowing I could transfer in my final year meant I could understand hospitality in both Asia and Europe,” she said. She went on to graduate from Les Roches Marbella with Distinction and Honours, earning her BBA with a specialisation in Luxury Hospitality Management, and moved into a role at The Miami Beach EDITION, a Marriott International property operating at the highest international level of food and beverage. Bangkok to Marbella to Miami: that is what this hospitality management degree is designed to make possible.
Six reasons the AIHM–Les Roches pathway stands apart
1. You arrive in Switzerland academically ready
The shared curriculum means the transition is an extension rather than a disruption. Amy Prapasirikul Siriprawatkul described what AIHM gave her before the move: “AIHM helped me build a strong foundation in the hospitality business and time management.” Mew Kotchapun Kongthawornwat added that Les Roches “felt similar to AIHM, just with more advanced resources and technology.” For students from Southeast Asia wanting to enter a top European institution, starting close to home and building toward that transition is a genuine structural advantage.
2. Bangkok grounds your learning in real hospitality from day one
AIHM occupies the ninth floor of the Avani+ Riverside Bangkok Hotel, directly connected to the Anantara Bangkok Riverside Resort. Students train with real guests, real service teams, and real operational standards from their first semester. The Practical Arts semester puts students on the floor of a working hotel. The Integrated Hospitality Project, running across three semesters, assigns students to real business challenges set by hotel general managers, with findings presented directly to the GM.
That level of industry access during a hospitality management degree is not standard anywhere. Bangkok’s position as one of the world’s most visited cities and its largest tourism market in Southeast Asia means students are surrounded by international hotel brands and genuine operational complexity from the moment they arrive on campus.
3. The academic transition to Switzerland is continuous, not disruptive
Because the BBA curriculum at AIHM is 90% aligned with Les Roches, students who transfer carry their academic progress intact. AIHM also supports the documentation for the move, which Mew noted made “the transition as smooth as possible.” Students do not begin again in Switzerland. They step into a wider environment with a foundation already in place.
4. Two distinct environments develop different strengths
At AIHM, small class sizes create close relationships between students and lecturers. Phyu Shin Thant described the value of that intimacy: “The smaller class sizes allowed for more personalised attention and a closer-knit learning environment.”
At Les Roches, the environment is wider, more international, and more autonomous. Amy described the shift: “Students are encouraged to balance academics with real-world exposure.” Both environments are useful, and both develop something the other cannot replicate alone.
Emy Gouders, a student from the Netherlands who discovered AIHM during an internship in Bangkok, put the location advantage plainly: “It’s really special to have this in Asia, as you can experience the best education style while being in one of the top tourist destinations in the world.”
Thailand’s international education sector has grown substantially to support exactly this kind of demand, with Bangkok now attracting students from across Europe, the Middle East, and South Asia who want world-class instruction without leaving Asia for it.
5. You build two professional networks across two continents
AIHM connects students to Minor Hotels’ network of over 640 properties and more than 40,000 hospitality professionals. Two internships are built into the degree, with placements available across Thailand and internationally at luxury hotels, from Japan and Hong Kong to the Maldives, Dubai, France, and Spain.
Phyu described the outcome clearly: “I made regional connections at AIHM and global connections at Les Roches.” At Les Roches, leading hotel brands recruit directly on campus. Career Day events bring HR teams to interview students on site.
6. The degree opens doors across two continents
Graduating from a hotel management school with Les Roches on the certificate is recognised across the global industry as a mark of rigour. Combined with the Bangkok foundation, two completed internships, and live project experience with operating hotels, graduates leave with a profile that signals international readiness.
From the first AIHM cohort to transfer, two students finished first and second in their class at Les Roches. Chris Meylan, AIHM’s Chief Operating Officer, recalled it directly: “We knew they would do well, but we didn’t expect them to perform that exceptionally.”
AIHM’s August open event
AIHM is holding an open event in August 2026 for anyone considering a hospitality management degree or looking to understand what the Les Roches transfer pathway involves in practice. It is the clearest way to see the campus, meet current students and lecturers, and ask the questions that matter before choosing a hotel management school.
If you are interested, you will need to register to attend the AIHM open event in August.
In collaboration with the Asian Institute of Hospitality & Management
The story Start in Bangkok, graduate in Switzerland with AIHM’s hospitality management programme as seen on Thaiger News.
