President and Aga Khan inaugurate Westmont Hospitality Hall
The building housing the Westmont Institute of Tourism and Hospitality (WiTH) was officially opened on Tuesday by the President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Prince Amyn Aga Khan.
The WiTH is a partnership project between business and economics school Nova SBE and the Westmont Hospitality Group.
With the new building, Nova SBE is now preparing to welcome the ‘ecosystem’ of professors, students, researchers and partners focused on developing and promoting a top-quality education in hospitality, tourism and all the allied service industries, based on values of sustainability and innovation.
The WiTH’s ambition is clear: “creating and preparing tomorrow’s leaders and entrepreneurs in the hospitality and tourism areas” — an important industry all over the world, Portugal included, but also developing countries — with a “special focus on Africa where sustainable economic growth is vital for its population”.
Majid Mangalji, Founder and President of Westmont Hospitality Group, said, “This new building represents an important milestone for the Westmont Institute of Tourism and Hospitality Project which will serve as a think-tank for new ideas to transform the hospitality and tourism industry, while at the same time is the perfect place for the tourism and hospitality industry community to meet and discuss the challenges ahead.”
“In the future, digital and technology will be fundamental, yes, but more than this we will need to know how to take care of the consumer and create unique experiences with an emotional impact for our clients; it will be a decisive factor for success”, says Daniel Traça, Dean of Nova SBE adding that the partnership with the Westmont Hospitality Group means that all the hotel industry’s skills and resources can be brought to Nova SBE in an innovative way so that they may be developed and improved through innovation and transposed in other areas such as retail, banking and health among others”.
The new building, in addition to being a space for students to develop their projects, Westmont Hospitality Hall will represent a new central focus at the business school’s campus in Carcavelos and the ideal place to develop new solutions for improving client experiences with companies.