Hospitality Management

What Hospitality Management offers

This management course at Hotel Management School Leeuwarden prepares you for the rapidly changing environment of the hospitality industry. You develop your skills and knowledge of hospitality, gastronomy, catering, events, human resources, marketing, sales and finance. You also work in our own four-star hotel Notiz and in our on-campus restaurants and eateries. This gives you the chance to not only experience how hospitality works in practice and explore different catering concepts, but also learn how to think strategically at a management level and how to carry out research. The diversity of the programme means you’ll experience everything from lectures in the theory of business management to tasting the most delicious wines in a wine class.  As this is an international study, the language of instruction is English and your fellow students come from all over the world. 

While you are studying you can gain additional experience and qualifications essential for working in hospitality. For instance, obtain your HACCP certification, work on the SDEN 2 wine course certificate or get your Social Responsibility certificate. You can also represent Hotel Management School Leeuwarden at international competitions, sharing your vision and ideas of the hospitality industry while expanding your network.   

Hospitality Management in practice 

You work on assignments from real companies in each year of the course, often collaborating in small groups and coached by lecturers and professionals with relevant practical experience. This method of working (Design-Based Education) means you learn to draw on feedback to adapt your ideas and become more flexible, while also developing your teamwork and leadership skills. It also means you get hands-on experience of changes and innovations on the work floor, giving you insights into guest experience, digitalisation, sustainability and cyber safety. The assignment topics are as varied as our industry partners, with questions coming from, for instance, Courtyard Marriott Vilnius in Lithuania, Van der Valk Services and Hotel de L’Europe in the Netherlands, Ithaka Hospitality Partners in the US and Jukani Wildlife Park in South Africa.    

Gain international experience 

Studying hospitality management at NHL Stenden means spending part of your studies abroad and putting your passion for hospitality into practice with field trips, minor subjects and internships in different countries. Our participation in RUN-EU means you can join Short Advanced Programmes and carry out projects with partner institutions in Europe. You can also go to one of the NHL Stenden University of Applied Sciences Grand Tour locations in South Africa, Bali or Thailand. Or you can go on an exchange to a partner institution and delve into a totally new way of studying. With over 100 different minors on offer through NHL Stenden and held at locations all over the world, you're sure to find the perfect specialisation, whether it's Spa Business Strategy, Gastronomy, Advanced Wine Studies, International HRM or Data-Driven Decision Making. 

The reasons to study at NHL Stenden 

The things that make a difference in the world often start as ideas from people daring to question what others assume. At NHL Stenden, you work in mixed groups so you can use each other's perspectives to unravel unobvious choices. Through real-life projects you learn by doing and this, combined with your internship, truly gives you a head start on your career. With our international opportunities and study environment, you develop a global network while the extracurricular activities you can pick up mean you develop talents that help you explore beyond your studies. While this is all great for your future, we know you also need to focus on your time as a student. Which is why we aim to make NHL Stenden your home away from home, a community where you’re known by your name, so you can be the person you truly are. For us, that makes you original. And it makes NHL Stenden, home of the originals.