IMHI: "We Bring Together 1,900 Alumni in the Hospitality Sector"

For 3 years, Monika Moser (IMHI 10) has been gathering the IMHI (International Hospitality Management Institute) community as Head of AAIMHI. She tells us about this community’s activities and invites her classmates to become members of their online group on the ESSEC Alumni website. 

ESSEC Alumni: Which community do you lead?

Monika Moser: We bring together the 1,900 graduates of this programme from the very first class in 1983 up to now. They hold various senior management roles in hospitality, tourism and catering, notably with the sector’s most renowned names, but also in finance or asset management, and so on. 

EA: What activities do you offer?

M. Moser: We organise a monthly get-together in a Parisian hotel, a different venue each time, which often has alumni among its team and thus provides us with an opportunity to visit the location. These informal afterwork events generally attract between 30 and 90 participants. Thanks to our network of ambassadors, we organise similar events two to three times a year in other cities such as London, Dubai or Geneva. We also coordinate round table discussions and debates, which are more focused on expertise sharing, often in association with other organisations including the Cornell Hotel Society, networks like NEWH or ESSEC Alumni’s professional clubs. Last year, we had the privilege of attending for free a performance of La Cenerentola at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées in Paris, and we celebrated the 40th anniversary of IMHI at the Musée des Arts Forains, also in Paris, with the kind help and operational support of ESSEC Alumni. This lavish gala was attended by 350 people!

EA: What other initiatives do you lead?

M. Moser: We recently launched the Divers’IMHI scholarships, which enable our alumni to offer direct and partial sponsorship to a student in financial difficulty from an international and diversity background. We awarded two scholarships in 2024, one of which is funded by members of the Class of 2001, in memory of their classmate Pierre Innocenti (IMHI 01), who tragically died in the Bataclan terrorist attack in 2015.

EA: What projects do you have in the pipeline? 

M. Moser: We hope to develop new event formats, such as a visit to an emblematic project in Paris, and to participate in our sector's major trade fairs, such as ITB and IHF in Berlin. We will also pursue our efforts on an international level alongside our ambassadors.

EA: What links do you have with ESSEC Business School? 

M. Moser: We work closely with the management staff of the IMHI program. We organise information sessions for graduates on the evolutions of the programme and encourage them to get involved in the recruitment of new classes, in the student mentoring programme, or in ‘Industry Leader’ presentations on campus. 

EA: Who are the members of your team?

M. Moser: Our bureau is made up of 10 active members, to which are added several honorary members (former bureau members and the president of the Student Office), as well as 12 honorary presidents. We also have 10 ambassadors in Spain, the UK, India, the USA, Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates. I’d like to point out that any graduate of the IMHI programme can stand for election to the bureau every year in June. We encourage the younger generations in particular to join us! 

EA: How can alumni follow your news and contribute to your actions?

M. Moser: We relay all our events and post numerous articles (volunteer appointments, event photos and reports or graduate profile features) in our group on the ESSEC Alumni website. Don’t hesitate to follow our LinkedIn page as well.

Interview by Louis Armengaud Wurmser  (E10), Content Manager at ESSEC Alumni 

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