Exalumnos del Master en Gestión y Dirección Hotelera

ALUMNI

After completing university studies students in the tourist sector usually need to follow a graduate program for specialization. This represents, for the most part, a starting point full of uncertainties and changes in their lives, but also involves a journey of dreams and goals to achieve, overcoming the disadvantages that the new working life holds for them. Today, we are proud of all the students who have passed thorough our classrooms, having contributed and provided them with the knowledge and attitudes they have implemented where they have started to work All these students carry with them the personal imprint of an institution such as the Polytechnic University of Madrid.

We start a new school year in the Master program --it is already the thirty-second edition—after thirty-one long years training professionals for the Hotel Sector. In this long period of teaching, from the 1980s to date, a total of 1102 Spanish students and 238 foreign students from 48 countries from all around the world, have attended the classrooms of the Institute of Education Sciences (ICE) of the of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid.

All these years have been very enriching and an unforgettable experience for all students, teachers and managers of the Organization and of the Master. As a result, we are proud to see how our alumni have incorporated in the business or institutional world, in very diverse environments, in Spain and abroad and with high level of acceptance by the employers.

For all those who want to start this new challenging study program we have inserted here some comments from some of our alumni from earlier classes, who are part of that broad set of young people who one day were with us and who have wanted to leave testimony of what this postgraduate education has meant for them.

From their current jobs, these alumni encourage future graduates and graduates in different degrees to follow this MASTER, beginning a journey, which is always renewed, updated each year and where teachers put their enthusiasm and full work. These comments will serve to motivate and encourage other young people to pursue this widely recognised Master, with 31 years of teaching is experience.

Personal commentaries of alummni

María Teresa del Pozo
Place of origin: Madrid
Class: 28th – Year 2008-2009.

Current job position:
Revenue Management Manager. Sol Meliá Corporation. Responsible for the Snow Hotels of the Pyrenees.

“The Master in Hotel Management is a springboard to launch you to a world full of challenges such as this is.

I completed my internship at the Hilton and then, expanded it entering the Revenue Management Department at the Sol Meliá corporation. At the end of six months, I was offered the post of Revenue Manager in charge of the snow hotels from the Pyrenees. The beginning was hard, but with effort, excitement and patience I’m already enjoying it. It is a unique opportunity, in addition to living a great experience in places like Formigal and Baqueira.

I encourage all those who want to dedicate themselves to the hospitality industry, to follow this Master program and work hard, because in the end, the effort (I know it is much) is going to be rewarded".



Alejandro Sanz Fernández
Place of origin: Spain
Class: 24th – Year 2004-2005.

Current job position:
Manager of Hotel Soria Plaza Mayor - Marketing Director of the Consulting Agency Maestros Hoteleros

“I have always thought that a professional career should be managed by oneself. Today, when looking back, I consider a success having taken the personal decision of following the Master in Hotel Management of the I.C.E.

For me, it widely opened the doors of this world of tourist hospitality businesses, a complicated field but exciting at the same time. The Master has been a very important step in my career, primarily for two reasons:

on the one hand, because already in those years, looming on the horizon, the arrival of this blissful crisis was perceived. In those difficult time periods, it is most likely to invest in training. According to Ernst Young for every euro spent in training, the average investment return is 300%. I, like so many other colleagues and also as many of you yourselves will, have changed my sports car by the postgraduate Master program. Training and never ending continuous education, in a constant fight to overcome the rapid obsolescence of knowledge is the path chosen.

At the same time, I always considered the human factor essential: at the ICE, those relationships that began being personal with professors and classmates, now have become, in addition, professional relationships. The Master means a significant expansion of your contacts network, which will become crucial in future years.

I would say to the new graduates that training is the key to success. And I hope that the success visits you soon. Hard work and luck." Alejandro Sanz is a Law graduate from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He has worked in prominent luxury hotels such as the Hotel Urban ***** G.L. and Wellington Hotel ******, among others. Presently, he is the Manager of the Hotel Plaza Mayor Soria, and the Commercial Director of consultant Maestros Hoteleros and directs Cromoclub, his own company.



David Vadillo Vime
Place of origin: Madrid
Class: 24th Year 2004-2005.

Current job position:
Consultant at Maestros Hoteleros

”The Master completed in the year 2004/ 2005 in the ICE, was an experience that helped me to become a better professional and better person. A better professional, because the contents taught and based on real case studies, were the instruments that allowed me to understand the reality of the business and grow confidently at the professional level; and a better person, for having met and worked with colleagues with strong ethical and moral values. Honestly, I would encourage anyone who wants to develop a career in the hospitality industry to live the experience at the ICE".



Ernesto Osuna
Class: 21st - Year 2001- 2002
Place of origin: Spain

Current job position:
Hotel Manager at Hotel Westin Resort & Spa Cancún

"After a brief stay in the hotel world as student trainee, it was clear that this was what I wanted. Having done the Master in Hotel Management course allowed me to acquire a good knowledge base that has made me advance in my career.

Through the course, I could understand how a hotel works and the existing relationships between the various departments, and I could expand such knowledge later through my experience, but with a strong and reliable base, which has allowed me to develop quickly and achieve important managerial positions.

The Master is a tool that will help you achieve your career goals. The labor market needs leaders like you, professionals trained aiming to do important things. People able to inspire and create productive work teams and make profitable companies. Therefore, you will need knowledge, and be sure that you what you learn in the Masters, you’ll be able to apply it in the future. Do have enthusiasm and confidence in your possibilities, and remember that only you have the control of your life, you can become what you want to be, it only depends on you. So I would give prospective students the advice to take advantage at the fullest, with professionalism and enthusiasm of the great opportunity of being students of the Master."

Curriculum: Ernesto Osuna has worked as General Manager in countries such as República Dominicana and México, in companies such as Riu and Excellences resorts. He has been responsible for opening new hotels, and has worked as Hotel Manager of the Westin Hotels of the Starwood Group.



Javier Polo Fernández
Place of origin: Valladolid
Class: 20th –Year 2000- 2001.

Current job position:
Director of the Conference Center of Valladolid

"Some of the things we do in life are marked by a magic touch, the moment that will change the rest of our lives. The decision to make the Master was that moment for me; it was the beginning of my professional life and one of the happiest moments of my life, with my colleagues with whom I still have a close relationship and with the teachers. During that year I also discovered what I wanted to do professionally and that passion and love were enrooted in me through the course.

Being a hotel manager entails a great responsibility at both human and professional levels. It is a challenge on a personal level with oneself, as well as with others and with everything you do. It also means having a wide knowledge and learning about many subjects and attitudes. The Master is a good starting point for all of them accompanied by a search and a continuous struggle to get what you want".



Cristina Chavarria Corella
Place of origin: Alajuela, Costa Rica
Class: 18th - Year 1997- 1998

Current job position:
Manager CEO Hotel Mango Mar at Jaco Beach , Costa Rica

"For me, having done the Masters has opened a door to great opportunities, knowledge, and job opportunities. The experience has been of great impact, and in a very positive way in my life, both at a personal and professional level, generating very good and great challenges.

I loved the Master, the teachers’ professionalism and how much I learned from it. In addition, I shared the academic year with a wonderful group of colleagues and who added great contribution to the class. Finally, I was fascinated to live in Madrid!

I recommend the new graduates that take advantage of the Master and to make the most out of the knowledge and experience it will give them.

Today I am General Manager of the Hotel Mango Mar in playa Jaco, Costa Rica: www.hotelmangomar. "com and also I am the coordinator of the Sala de Events: http:// ranchodonaana.shutterfly.com//

Thank you for the opportunity".



Ezequiel Matos Rizo.
Place of origin: Cuba
Class: 14th – Year 1994-1995

Present job position:
Developer of Marketing Integral TEMA

" I will tell a brief anecdote to the new graduates from me as an alumni. I have entitled it Grand luxury... and it reads as follows:

Frightened, I arrived at Madrid, with all my senses alert and my mind told me that everything was going to be all right. My perceptions about the course were that there were very competent teachers and students, and while becoming familiar with the new situation, my student rate power and high doses of intelligence would reach the limit in this new environment with lots of books, summaries, choosing correct answers, making friends, being an individual with virtues and errors, subtle and sublime teachers, significant practices that have given me skills, skills and attitudes for life... until I graduated with courage, principles, humility and gratitude for all and forever...Thank you, thank you for that great luxury of having been amongst you!!!!!!

If possible, I would like these small written emotions to serve other present and future students to reflect on their own and new adventures. Congratulations to all in this 31st Edition".



Alex Teruel
Class: 12th - Year 1992-1993

Present job position:
Director of hotel and expansion assets at Family Office, with 7 hotels: one personally owned and directly manages, three NH hotels and one Accor hotel.

"The access to the then called High hotel and hospitality management course, now Master of the ICE, opened my eyes to the professional world after I had completed my training in tourism. It generated my attraction for this sector, which still motivates me every day in my working life.

The high mullti-disciplinarity component offered new subjects to develop that greatly interested me, allowing me to have a greater training to use in my later access to the professional world. All of this, combined within a training environment, and at the same time very human and inclusive atmosphere, make me still recall with great affection activities from the course".

CV: I started my career in the Marketing Department, next to J. Gaell, in Husa Princesa in Madrid, later in Steigenberger Hotels in Boston (USA), continuing by several years in the Accor Group, and then specializing in consulting at Horwath Consulting and finally at Mazars Tourism.



Jesús Arnedo Biurrarena
Place of origin: Irún, Guipúzcoa
Class: 9th - Year: 1989-1990

Current job position:
General manager, Hotel Hesperia Madrid

In those years, when I started the Master, I had worked both in Conference agencies, and in hotels. The Master helped me engage into the hotel world and above all, it helped me to choose a position as manager in the Riu hotels chain in Mallorca.

How has the knowledge acquired in the Master affected my working life? I think it has been a turning point. After the diploma in tourism, I spent a few years gaining experience in different sectors of tourism. The Master through its content and teachers such as Jesús Gatell or Jesús Felipe gave me an excellent base, which helped me a lot in my subsequent professional development. In addition, we formed a fantastic group, still seeing each other, with friendships for life. My professional activity since then, I would say that has been very rewarding. I have worked in many different places, Mallorca, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Vitoria, San Sebastian, Bilbao, always challenging, and I would say that I've not bee bored and I'm still learning.

I would tell the new graduates that it all depends on their desire to grow, we must be generous, and give ourselves to the client and the hotel, in places where the road is never easy and there are regular, good and very good times, and that is part of life. Languages and mobility tend to be also very important because one gains knowledge, experiences, etc. A well-known French Chef said "Savoir faire, faire et faire savoir faire"

Jesús Arnedo has been Director in 3 hotels of the RIU chain, 3 NH hotels, Director of openings and projects in Hesperia, and currently General Director of Hesperia Madrid. Languages: English, French and intermediate level of German.

              ICE de la UPM - Telfs: (00. 34) 91 452.49.38/ 91 336.68.15/16/17 - Fax: 91 3366812 - email: master.hoteles@ice.upm.es