October 1, 2022. Shanghai – The opening ceremony for the CEIBS-EHL Hospitality EMBA (HEMBA) programme 2022 cohort was held at Shanghai Campus today, with more than 110 students formally starting their 18-month journey.

The latest HEMBA group is made many seasoned and accomplished professionals with an average of 16.5 years of work experience and average age of 40. Women make up 48% of the new cohort, with 95% of students holding senior management positions at their current company.

The students also come from a wide range of industries, including healthcare (15.5%), modern manufacturing (14.5%), financial services (13.6%), real estate and construction (11.8%), information services (11%), wholesale and retail (5.5%), consulting (5.5%), catering (4.5%), media, culture and sports (4.5%), tourism (3.6%), education (3.6%), logistics and warehousing (1.8%), public services (1%), and more.

During her opening speech, CEIBS President Wang Hong gave the students a warm welcome and congratulated the new batch for starting their new journey.

“Over the next 18 months, I hope that you can combine your past business practices with the course curriculum. In a time when new technologies and business models are constantly popping up, it’s important to harness the power of knowledge to enhance your efficiency, maintain critical thinking, and build yourself to become a learning leader,” she said.

CEIBS Associate Dean (Europe) and Hospitality EMBA Director Katherine Xin then gave an address in which she highlighted the fact that China’s service industry is transforming from a traditional labour-intensive one to a knowledge-intensive one.

“We are glad to see that more and more HEMBA students are developing into leaders in China’s pan-service sectors that integrate management breadth and service depth,” she stated.

Finally, EHL Associate Dean (Graduate Programmes) and HEMBA Programme Director Professor Achim Schmitt addressed the event online.

“The HEMBA programme jointly offered by CEIBS & EHL aims to pioneer a revolution in the service industry. We hope you can hold dear to your heart that service is all about caring people, and contribute to a better future for the service industry in China and beyond with the HEMBA programme,” he said.

About CEIBS-EHL Hospitality EMBA (HEMBA)

The Hospitality EMBA (HEMBA) is a joint programme offered by CEIBS together with École hôtelière de Lausanne (EHL), the number one hospitality management school in the world. The HEMBA curriculum combines core courses from the CEIBS EMBA programme together with professional courses aimed at upgrading the service excellence value chain. Established in 2017, the programme has trained nearly 200 entrepreneurs and executives from pan-service industries such as health, real estate, finance, education, communication and manufacturing.