Last June, Philippe Vignon took up his role as Managing Director of Glion Institute of Higher Education, bringing with him more than 30 years of international experience at the helm of major organisations across the tourism, aviation, media and education sectors.

His career highlights include key leadership roles such as General Manager Commercial at easyJet, CEO at Geneva Tourism, and CEO at Digital Edipresse Luxe, as well as board and advisory roles for a host of ventures including the stunning Hotel des Horlogers created by Audemars Piguet. 

Six months on, we caught up with Philippe to learn more about the man, his leadership philosophy and how he hopes to make a positive mark during his tenure as MD. 

Let’s start with matters strategic – how would you characterise Glion’s new strategic direction under your leadership? 

“It’s not about reinventing Glion. We’ve been a leading school in our field for six decades and I’ve found much to admire since coming on board – amazingly engaged people, superb brand recognition and a very strong sense of community on campus to name but a few. My job is to take all these ingredients and, with my leadership team, continue to leverage them in the most effective ways, so we can exert a global influence appropriate for an institution of our calibre.”

What does this mean in practice? 

“It means pursuing an individualised, value-based approach in terms of what we offer our students. Numbers are important to any private institution, but I want to further differentiate Glion from rival schools that have chosen to pursue a volume-centric approach. If I set myself a goal for the next few years, it is that Glion will be recognised as the boutique reference in hospitality and luxury education.”

‘Boutique’ is a familiar word in hospitality circles; give us a sense of what it means in relation to a business school?

“When I say ‘boutique’ I don’t mean in terms of the facilities – although we should always ensure they are first-class, What I mean is that the young people who are coming to us today represent a generation which has already been through a lot. Many saw their education, and their social development, impacted by the response to Covid. Equally, the young of today have experienced a certain level of personal disconnect through the rise of social media, as well as being confronted by seemingly intractable issues like climate change and political instability. That’s a lot to take on, and so I see our vocation here as not just about teaching these young talents about the business of hospitality or luxury, but also to help them emerge as good citizens and to become aligned with their own specific purpose. We can only do this if we pursue a strategy of individualisation; for our faculty and staff, including me, to spend quality time with students, listening to their hopes and fears, offering a supportive cocoon which enables them to blossom into beautiful butterflies!”

And assuming you can only do this if you maintain Glion at a human scale?

“Exactly. And this is a key differentiator for Glion as I mentioned. To give an example from our Career Services team, when a Bachelor student joins us they very quickly must start thinking about their first internship. Where some larger schools just leave them to it, we take the time to find the right fit, plus we help the student to craft a CV that expresses their individuality and specific qualities. It’s not a ‘one size fits all’ approach.”

‘Luxury in action’ has become Glion’s signature. What does this concept stand for in your eyes? 

“The element of luxury I’m thinking about here is that part which you cannot buy: the quality of human interaction. It’s the ability to connect at a deeper emotional level and it informs everything we do throughout the student journey, from the moment they arrive on campus until graduation and beyond. Today, I often see complaints about the hospitality sector forgetting the human element in favour of a regimented, numbers-driven approach. Our goal is to instill these human qualities in all our students; giving them the humility required to be of service to others and equipping them with a sense of purpose and connectedness to what they want the world to be.”

You use a phrase about developing ‘business class leaders’. What exactly do you mean by that? 

“Without delving too deeply into management theory, there is a big difference between managing people and leading people. When you lead people, you demonstrate the ability to align each individual within the organisation towards their own purpose, as well as the larger purpose the organisation aims to achieve. So, for me ‘business class leaders’ are those who are not just production machines, but instead are individuals who truly understand that exceptional performance requires the ability to connect with our emotions and to appreciate the larger ecosystem in which we operate. These are the qualities needed to navigate the VUCA (volatile, uncertain, chaotic, ambiguous) times we find ourselves in.”

Having achieved Swiss Federal Accreditation, tell us more about how Glion balances academic rigour with the human and experiential approach you referred to earlier. 

“It’s all about achieving that perfect blend of theory and practice. Let’s deliver the essential theoretical foundations and then we can explore how to apply these in the real world. It’s why along with hiring high quality academics we also invite a lot of visiting lecturers who are active in the industry. These people know what it’s like to operate in the front lines, and I believe it’s good for our students to be confronted with some of the brutal realities of the professional world. In future, my aim is to build even closer links with industry, so we can work on more real-world business cases and industry applied research with our students and thus give them more opportunities to learn by doing. That sits at the heart of our transformative education approach, which you’ll often hear referred to as the Swiss model of hospitality education.”

In Glion’s past there are tremendous stories of research activities that had a significant influence on the travel and tourism industry. Do you hope to see a return of those days? 

“If you want to have legitimacy as a University of Applied Sciences, which we now are, research is an imperative. But for me this must be applied research, not theoretical research, as this helps to solidify a bridge between the school and the industries we serve. We have established our Glion Research & Innovation Center and I can only echo its mission statement, which is to position our institution as a leader in research excellence, fostering a culture of innovation and sustainability, and making a positive and lasting impact on industries, communities, and society as a whole.”

That close link between Glion and industry is clearly essential for you, and we can see it in other initiatives like the Hospitality & Luxury Insight Council. Tell us more about how these connections shape the student experience. 

“It’s vital that we listen to the industry’s needs and expectations, so we can adapt our programs accordingly. For our students and their families, being educated at Glion requires a significant financial investment. So we must ensure this investment generates a return by positioning our graduates at the top of hiring lists, while also equipping them with the attributes to rise quickly through the ranks once employed. This forces us to keep our education dynamic and relevant, which is a good thing.”

What’s your take on the potential impact of technology, and especially AI, on industries like luxury and hospitality?

“I have a very strong view that the march of AI is basically irresistible, and that its impact on our personal and professional lives will be profound. So, we certainly have a responsibility to educate our students in how to make the most of AI tools and systems. However, these must only ever be deployed as enhancers, not as replacements for our own critical thinking. The essence of hospitality remains human, and therefore human connectedness and creativity is going to become even more important in an increasingly digitalised world. I don’t want to live in a world where we delegate our thinking to machines. I also believe that human nature is so complex, so beautiful, so creative, that it cannot ever be truly replaced by AI. I’m a strong advocate that luxury cannot be commoditised, because true luxury involves a deep-rooted human interaction.”

What role does sustainability and corporate responsibility play in your vision for Glion?

“Good question, because it is an area where institutions can often over claim or set themselves up to be accused of ‘greenwashing’. When it comes to Glion, of course it’s very important to have a proper CSR structure in place, to cut food waste, reduce our energy consumption, and so on. But at the same time, I want to see us adopting the typical Swiss approach, which is to avoid claiming everything is rosy, and instead to tackle the issue from the bottom up, by implementing small initiatives that add up to a big impact. And this again is something where we can benefit from our size and boutique philosophy.”

Ten years from now, what do you hope Glion graduates – and Glion as an institution – will represent? 

“I think our graduates will be recognised for their natural elegance, as well as for their personal and professional integrity. It comes back to what I said about an ability to navigate an uncertain world with respect and humility. As for Glion itself, I hope we will be universally admired for our ability to blend a ‘Swiss quality’ approach with a global influence, as well as for the genuine care we have for every student we welcome to campus.”