After year 1, the main phase begins. In this phase, you will complete three theoretical modules and one practical module (your placement). Years 2 and 3 overlap here as the semesters alternate. This means that you will do your placement either in year 2 or year 3.  

Year 2

Developing People and Organisations  
In this module, you will mainly explore people’s behaviour and what that means for an organisation (or for working in an organisation). The courses you take are Oganisational Behaviour, Business Law & Ethics, Research & Design, and Economics. 

Managing Business Performance and Innovation  
In this module, you will learn all about customer relations, service marketing, and pricing strategies. The courses you take are Accounting, Operations Management, Management Information Systems, and Marketing. 

Year 3

Creating Impact 
In this module, you will work with a group of students to design a sustainable strategic business that creates impact. An engaging challenge where you will put into practice the knowledge and skills you have gained in the first two years of study! This course will immerse you in the industry sustainability debate, develop your strategic thinking skills and expand your knowledge of experience design. Understanding the interrelationship between these aspects will form the basis of your design! 

Year 4

In your graduation year, you will work on your thesis and you can do another study component of your choice, such as an exchange, a minor, a pre-master’s, an additional placement, or writing a consultancy report or business plan. For your thesis as well as the optional part, you will obviously choose a topic (or context) that suits you perfectly! You will be supported in this process by a study coach, who will guide you through to your thesis defence.  

Placement

During this five-month (24-week) placement, you will experience what it is like to live and work in an intercultural hospitality environment abroad. You will work full-time during your placement – an amazing experience that you will carry with you for the rest of your life.   

During your placement you may receive visits from your supervising lecturer to check that you are doing well, that your placement company is taking good care of you and, of course, to discuss your professional and personal development. We have the following placement regions:   

• Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Cairns)  
• Austria (Vienna)   
• Aruba, Bonaire
• Belgium  
• France (Paris)   
• Germany (Berlin, Munich)   
• Ireland (Dublin)  
• Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur)  
• New Zealand (Auckland, Queenstown)   
• Spain (Barcelona, Valencia, Mallorca, Madrid, Sevilla) 
• Vietnam (Hanoi) 
• United Arab Emirates (Dubai)   

Please note that these destinations may change due to unforeseen circumstances.   

Our Placement Office will help you find a suitable placement. In addition, you will get all the inspiration you need through the Industry days!  

 

Exchange

Spending time studying abroad offers you the opportunity to push your boundaries, both literally and figuratively. You expand your international network, learn another language and gain more insight into intercultural differences (and similarities!). Breda University of Applied Sciences has contacts with numerous universities all over the world where you can go as an exchange student. 

Minor

During a minor, you can choose whether you want to delve deeper into your current field of study or broaden your horizons in a different subject. You can choose to take a minor at BUas. Check out all the minors that BUas offers here. You can also choose a minor at another university of applied sciences in the Netherlands or go abroad.

This study programme uses a variety of teaching methods. You will attend lectures, workshops, practical sessions in Sibelicious, and be given many group assignments. You will be assessed during four examination periods per year, give final presentations, and submit portfolios. The Hotel Management programme is characterised by small-scale education and you will have several one-to-one meetings with your coach.  

In this programme, you are trained to become an all-round hotel manager. First, you will work on your development. In our learning community, you will not only acquire knowledge, but also develop competencies. We will help you learn what you need to know and be able to do, and we will give you practical, on-the-job training. It is about the right mix of qualities, attitudes and skills you need as a professional. This programme will give you everything you need to get the international job of your dreams!   

Study load 
On average, you will spend 35 hours per week on your studies. You will attend lectures and work on projects, and prepare for examinations and assessments. Classes take place between 9.00 and 17.00 hrs. During practical weeks, you will work full-time in the kitchen, restaurant or at the Visitor Centre on campus. Class hours are then between 8.00 and 22.00 hrs.   

A typical week

Below, you will find an example of a typical week. Keep in mind that this schedule may vary each week, and this example serves as an indication.   

Monday: 

• 10.00-11.00: Sibelicious kick-off 
• 11.00-13.00: Lecture on Management Development Programme 
• 13.00-14.00: Lunch at the food court 
• 14.00-16.00: Language class (French, German, Spanish or Dutch) 

Tuesday: 

• 09.30-11.00: Sibelicious lecture 
• 11.00-13.00: Time to work on assignment and have lunch
• 13.00-15.00: Workshop on Research and Design 

Wednesday  

• 09.00-12.00: Meeting up with project group
• 12.00-12.30: Individual meeting with study coach
• 12.30-13.00: Quick lunch
• 13.00-15.00: Workshop on hotel brands (as part of the Operations Management course) 

Thursday

• 12.00-14.00: Group work on Food & Beverage assignment 
• 14.00-15.00: English class 
• 15.00-17.00: Lecture on Business Law 

Friday: 

• 09.00-11.00: Workshop on Research and Design 
• 11.00-12.00: Lunch with classmates 
• 12.00-14.30: Guest lecture from tea sommelier (make sure to wear your business attire) 

Study coaching   
Throughout your studies, you will work on developing your personal and professional skills in the Management Development Programme. You will do this together with your study coach. 
Topics covered in this programme include time management, communication skills, teamwork, learning styles, leadership styles, report writing and referencing, digital skills and working with specific computer programmes. 
 
In your second year of study, you will start working with Lumina Spark, gaining insight into your strengths and your areas for development. 
 
In the final stages of the programme, the focus shifts to the industry, where decision-making, senior leadership, negotiation, and entrepreneurship are key topics.  
 
Part of the Management Development Programme is your Personal Development Plan. You will create this plan yourself, guided by your study coach. Based on this plan, you will review your study progress and development together with your study coach. 
 
Student well-being
BUas encourages and helps you to make the most of yourself, whatever your circumstances. Maybe you have a chronic illness, are a family carer, a competitive athlete, or juggle your studies with running your own business? Our study coaches, student counsellors and student psychologists are here to help. Do you need extra support or advice? Or extra facilities? Then take a look at the options here.

During your studies, you will go on three trips. You will experience how things work in the hospitality sector. These excursions will provide a tangible connection to the theory you have learned, allowing you to see it in action.   

Field trip in the propaedeutic phase   
The main purpose of the field trip in your first year is to show you the international hospitality industry and make you more familiar with everything that happens in it. During the trip, you will learn all kinds of things about hospitality, service concepts, intercultural aspects and sustainable developments in your future working environment.  

During the trip, you will of course see and hear a lot. You will also meet professionals in the sector. The idea is that you gather these experiences for your own benefit – to explore how you can leverage them and learn from them.  

Field trips after the propaedeutic phase   
You will start with what we call ‘the wine trip’. Everything you have learned in the ‘Wine & Spirits’ course will now be put into practice and (if you are over 18) tasted! What techniques are used, are the guidelines for wines and spirits respected, what do you drink with which dish? You will experience it all. Watch a video here for an impression of this trip.   

Finally, there is a third field trip, together with students from the International Facility Management programme. In particular, you will learn how certain topics, such as finance, marketing, revenue management and sustainability, are interrelated. 

You will benefit from the intensive three-year programme in two respects: you gain one year in time, and save one year of tuition fees.

• after vwo (pre-university education) or after another propaedeutic year in another degree programme (economic focus): you will start in year 2 and also receive basic knowledge and skills from the propaedeutic phase.
• for Dutch students only: tailor-made track for havo graduates: you will start your course of study at De Rooi Pannen (mbo level) and you will proceed at Breda University of Applied Sciences in year 2 of the regular four-year programme. 

Three-year programme after pre-university education or after propaedeutic year

The differences between the three- and four-year programme can mainly be found in your first year of study. The three-year programme starts with modules from the second year of the regular programme. To ensure that basic knowledge of the propaedeutic phase is covered, some additional classes are scheduled and relevant study material is made available to you. Furthermore you will receive a short introduction to the hospitality industry with practical components in our in-house training company.

Special tailor-made track for havo graduates

You have just obtained your havo diploma, would really like to work in the hospitality industry, but you are not sure about the step from havo to hbo. Either you are anxious that this step is a little too abmitious, or you are inadmissible to Breda University of Applied Sciences. Breda University of Applied Sciences, in cooperation with De Rooi Pannen, offers the perfect alternative, especially for you, in the form of the tailor-made study track. You will start your course of study at De Rooi Pannen (mbo level) in Tilburg where you will spend two years. You will conclude your studies with an mbo diploma in horeca (level 4, Horecaondernemer/-manager). Next, you will proceed to the Hotel Management degree programme of BUas, where you can complete your bachelor’s degree in three years. This means that you will be in possession of an mbo diploma and an hbo degree after five years of studying! You can apply for this programme at De Rooi Pannen.

Read here how the tailor-made track for havo pupils works (in Dutch).

Three-year track for students with both havo and a mbo-4 HOM diploma
Students who have a havo / vwo diploma in combination with a vocational diploma level 4, Horeca ondernemer / -manager (mbo-4 HOM), can finish this degree programme in three years as well. You can apply at the Academy of Hotel Management and take part in the selection procedure in order to start in the second year of the International Hotel Management programme. 

For more information, just watch the Dutch video below.

This video consists of several chapters. Click on the icons to see more content.

Soon the world will be your workplace! English is pretty much the most important language in hotels and hospitality, so you will be working hard on that. Moreover, you will choose one of the following languages (if it is not your native language, of course): French, German, Spanish or Dutch (for non-Dutch speakers).  

French and German are continued at B1 level and Spanish at A2.2 level. Students with non-Dutch prior education can choose Dutch at beginner level.  

Please note that to be admitted to the Hotel Management programme, you must be proficient in a second modern foreign language in addition to English. More information can be found here: admission requirements.  

At BUas you are trained to become an entrepreneurial professional. In all the professional bachelor’s programmes, you are given the opportunity to develop your entrepreneurial skills. Alongside your studies, you can join BUas Startup Support, BUSS. BUSS organises (networking) events and connects student startup entrepreneurs, there is even the possibility to apply for guidance from your own startup coach.

You can also graduate within BUas with your own company! Every academy offers this opportunity, though a selection process may apply. Maybe, by that time, you already have a small profitable business or have plans to start one? BUas Startup Support can help you.

More information on how to start your own business.

Which courses will I take during the Hotel Management programme? 

Year 1 of the programme consists of two semesters. In the first semester you learn the theory, and in the second semester you apply it in practice. In semester 1 you will take the following courses: Marketing, Finance, Economics, Research & Design, Business Law & Ethics, English and another modern foreign language, and the Management Development programme.

Semester 2 is dedicated to Operations Management, practical kitchen skills, restaurant and front office, wine classes, Management Information Systems (the business economics side of the hotel industry), foreign language, and the Management Development programme.

Of course, in the other years you will get more of these kinds of courses, but you will also go on a placement abroad for 24 weeks, take part in a management week, and go on field trips!

What career options are there after graduation from Hotel Management?

With your degree, you can obviously become a Hotel Manager. But of course, this is not the only career path. Precisely because you take so many management courses during the programme, you can also end up working for airline companies, hospitality wholesalers, beer breweries, or holiday resorts. You will also have laid a good foundation for starting your own business.

What are the differences between the different hotel management schools in the Netherlands? 

The degree you obtain is of the same level at all schools, only the path towards it varies. All hotel management schools are Hoge Hotelscholen. Some programmes are offered in Dutch and others in English. At some hotel schools, you can live on campus as an intern, whereas others do not offer this option.  

What do I do in a Hotel Management programme? And why do I need to do restaurant and kitchen work if I’m doing a management programme? 

Being a good manager requires, among other things, knowledge of the profession. By shadowing in these departments, you will gain experience and better understand the tasks and responsibilities of your colleagues. Only then can you also effectively ‘manage’ them and ensure the best guest experience. You need to understand how something is done before you can take charge of it.

What is the difference between the three-year and the four-year track?

For students with a vwo diploma, BUas offers a special three-year study track. Both the three-year track and the four-year programme lead to a professional bachelor’s degree. The difference lies in a course in year 1, which participants of the three-year track complete at an accelerated pace.  

How do I know if I am eligible for this programme? 

You are admissible with all havo or vwo profiles. Sometimes, however, you need a specific subject in your package. To be selected, for instance, you have to have a second foreign language in your subject combination (French, German or Spanish). Some profiles also require (business) economics in your subject combination. We have listed all admission requirements here.