French hospitality education and training group Le Cordon Bleu has added a school in Perth to its list of more than 50 locations worldwide – the latest in a growing number of international groups bringing Western Australia’s entertainment and tourism offerings to a global audience.
French hospitality education and training group Le Cordon Bleu has added a school in Perth to its list of more than 50 locations worldwide – the latest in a growing number of international groups bringing Western Australia’s entertainment and tourism offerings to a global audience.
And even though it’s been a four-year process to establish a Le Cordon Bleu school in the WA capital, regional manager Desiree Casimir says the timing could not be better.
Le Cordon Bleu will offer two bachelor of business courses from the beginning of next year, with majors in convention and events management, and tourism management.
More courses, including Le Cordon Bleu’s famous culinary arts degree, will be added to the Perth school’s curriculum shortly.
The Perth school is in addition to existing schools in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, while Le Cordon Bleu has partnered with North Metropolitan TAFE to provide a purpose-built facility for its students.
Ms Casimir said the first graduates from its three-year courses would neatly line up with a wave of new luxury hotel developments in Perth, which include properties from Crown Resorts, Ritz-Carlton, Starwood Hotels Group and Hilton under construction.
“We are at the precipice of something very big in Perth, tourism and hospitality wise, and on an international level,” Ms Casimir told Business News.
“But these hotel chains are not going to hire backpackers to run their hotels.
“Our cooking school is what we’re known for, but because we knew that there were going to be so many jobs available in Perth, that’s why we launched these two business degrees.”
Ms Casimir, who worked in high-end hotels across the country for 22 years before an eight-year run of lecturing in hospitality at Edith Cowan University, said the city’s new hotels would not be alone in needing better-trained staff.
“Things are more sophisticated now, but it goes right through from high-end to the grunge bars,” she said.
“I know everyone loves Melbourne and Sydney, but Perth has something to offer as well.
“We’ve got the beaches plus we’ve got this cosmopolitan food and beverage scene that’s happening in Perth.
“Given everything that’s going on, our programs and the timing of it are going to align well with the evolution of what’s happening in the hospitality sector.”
Ms Casimir said she expected Le Cordon Bleu’s long-running reputation for excellence, with its first school established in Paris in 1895, would hold it in good stead for prospective students.
“Like Disney started with a mouse, we started with a whisk,” she said.
“Now we’re the biggest and most reputable hospitality academy in the world – it just grew and grew and grew into everything about hospitality.
“With the Le Cordon Bleu accreditation being so globally recognised, it is an entry into a world-class career of distinction.
“It becomes a global passport that is instantly recognised internationally; it really is unlimited and it really is up to the students how far they take it.”