English 
Last Monday 14th of November, at the European Maltese Government building in Valletta, Bella Vista Institute of Higher Education Switzerland (BVIS) and the Institute of Tourism Studies (ITS) signed an important strategic agreement.
This same event recognized the BVIS Chairman and President of the Board, Mr. Rui Zhou and Dr. István Ujhelyi, together with the ITS Chairman and CEO, Mr. Edward Zammit and Mr. Pierre Fenech, for signing a strategic alliance agreement to offer Undergraduate and Graduate degree programs in Hospitality and Tourism starting in 2023.
Mr. Rui Zhou, Chairman of the Board at BVIS, noted that the company looks forward to establishing future initiatives with ITS and the Maltese government. He then stated:
“Together, we will cultivate the appropriate tourist human resources to satisfy current and future market demands, thereby enhancing the sector’s competitiveness and sustainability. These future improvements in education are in direct accordance with UNWTO directives, with a focus on delivering tourism and hospitality research and training in several critical areas. The most recent was the ESG (Environment, Sustainability, and Governance) project developed by BVIS, which will also be introduced within future curriculum development.”
During the event’s opening statement, the CEO of ITS, Pierre Fenech, and the President of the Board of BVIS, Dr. Istvan Ujhelyi, reiterated their commitments to bring these educational institutions closer together and to develop cooperation between Malta and Switzerland in tourism education.
Dr. Clayton Bartolo, the Maltese Minister for Tourism, stated that this agreement aligns with the government’s policy. This is to transform ITS into a centre of excellence in which the government will invest further, with a multimillion-euro investment project designated for a campus within the Smart City initiative.
By David Hailstones
Vice President and Chief Operations Officer
BVIS Group
