Sommet Education, the global leader in higher education for hospitality management with prestigious institutions including Les Roches, Glion Institute of Higher Education and École Ducasse, has entered into a partnership with the Hospitality Community Foundation (HCommunity) through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
The MoU was officially signed on 7th October at Les Roches Crans-Montana, ranked number two worldwide in Hospitality and Leisure Management by the QS Universities Ranking by Subject 2025, host of the event. This strategic alliance is built on a shared ambition to combine academic expertise with real-time economic data to deliver tangible solutions to the current challenges faced by the hospitality and tourism industries.
This partnership reflects the strong commitment of both organisations to return data to the hands of hospitality professionals, guided by ethical and collaborative principles. By contributing to education, research, innovation and territorial competitiveness, this marks a new step toward a more sustainable industry ecosystem.
A shared vision for a sustainable and equitable hospitality sector
Florent Varanne, Head of Business Solutions Development at Sommet Education, who is also joining HCommunity’s Academic Committee which ensures strategic alignment between the Foundation’s mission and Sommet’s academic priorities, said:
“Real-time data only holds value when it serves a shared vision. Through this partnership with HCommunity, we have a unique opportunity to turn data into collective intelligence, for the benefit of destinations and the entire tourism ecosystem. Sommet Education is mobilising its academic teams, faculty, researchers and experts, to interpret, structure and transmit this data in a useful and strategic way. In a world where destinations compete long before individual establishments do, the pooling of anonymised data becomes a powerful tool to anticipate demand, adapt offerings and build lasting attractiveness. This partnership opens exciting perspectives to collectively advance performance, innovation and fairness in hospitality.”
Christopher Meignier, President of HCommunity Foundation, added: “Every day, thousands of professionals carry the hospitality industry on their shoulders. They deserve to fully benefit from the fruits of their labour. With HCommunity, our goal is to give them back control of this value, to help them move forward with greater clarity, better tools and stronger recognition. The partnership with Sommet Education serves exactly that purpose: it directly supports those who keep this industry alive and allows us, together, to move an entire ecosystem forward toward greater collaboration, intelligence and fairness.”
Giovanni Odaglia, Managing Director of Les Roches Crans-Montana, highlighted the school’s role in this initiative: “Hosting the signing of this new strategic partnership at Les Roches Crans-Montana underscores our role as a hub for innovation, collaboration and leadership in hospitality. Beyond hosting, our campus and students will actively contribute by creating videos and educational materials to help hoteliers understand and leverage the data generated by the HCommunity platform. By combining academic excellence, student engagement and industry-driven innovation, we strengthen our position as a catalyst for impactful strategic projects and prepare our students and partners to meet the challenges of tomorrow.”
A collaboration built on three key pillars
More specifically, this partnership focuses on three main areas: training around sector KPIs, applied research and educational projects, and the international deployment of the HCommunity platform.
Training around sector KPIs: Free webinars will be offered to help professionals understand and use the key indicators derived from the HCommunity platform. These sessions will be complemented by in-depth modules led by Sommet Education experts, integrated into the group’s B2B learning solutions.
Applied research and educational projects: Sommet Education will contribute to the Foundation’s projects through the development of case studies and research materials leveraging territorial data. This collaboration will strengthen academic transmission and foster pedagogical innovation.
International deployment of HCommunity platform: The partnership also includes a joint expansion into key markets such as the Middle East and South Africa, with the creation of Data Lakes to support governments and businesses in structuring their tourism development based on real-time, shared data.
The HCommunity Foundation is revolutionising the use of data in hospitality and tourism. As an independent Swiss foundation, it is transforming the way data is handled – giving control back to hotels, restaurants and destinations – and turning their data into drivers of performance, equity and innovation.
HCommunity operates the world’s first data lake fully dedicated to hospitality and tourism. It connects all industry stakeholders – private and public, technological, economic, and academic – through a unique shared-data platform designed to generate high-impact collective intelligence.
Hotels, restaurants and tourism operators joining the Foundation gain free access to real-time market data through the Market Watch platform, allowing them to anticipate trends, refine strategies, improve competitiveness, and face industry challenges with greater confidence.
Beyond that, HCommunity enables organisations, destinations and associations to create their own benchmarks, develop data-connected applications, and leverage high-value anonymised insights. Its ethical and transparent model ensures that revenue generated from anonymised data is shared with contributors and reinvested in the industry.
The Foundation also supports research, innovation and education initiatives through strategic partnerships with leading academic institutions, now including Sommet Education – working together to build the future of hospitality.
***Roundtable Report: When booking platforms capture the data, how can tourism players regain control?***
On 7th October, Les Roches Crans-Montana hosted the official signing of a partnership between Sommet Education and the HCommunity Foundation, marking a key milestone in the ethical governance and responsible use of data in the tourism industry.
This collaboration aims to develop the world’s first global ethical Data Lake dedicated to hospitality, an unprecedented initiative designed to restore data sovereignty to tourism professionals, whose information has long been monopolised by major online booking platforms.
In this context, a roundtable brought together key project stakeholders to discuss the challenges and concrete solutions surrounding this issue. The panel included Florent Varanne, Head of Business Solutions Development at Sommet Education; Christopher Meignier, President of the HCommunity Foundation; Simon Wiget, Director of Verbier Tourism; and Bilal Hassan, Senior Lecturer at Les Roches Crans-Montana.
Data: A Vital Challenge for the Future of Tourism
Online booking platforms hold much of the customer data, depriving hotels, restaurants, and destinations of a deeper understanding of their visitors. This loss of digital sovereignty weakens the industry’s ability to anticipate demand, tailor its offerings, and build lasting appeal. To meet this challenge, Sommet Education and the HCommunity Foundation have entered into an unprecedented partnership: the creation of the first global ethical Data Lake dedicated to hospitality, hosted in Switzerland. Its purpose is to return control of data to tourism professionals.
A Shared Diagnosis: A Fragmented and Dependent Industry
For Christopher Meignier, President of the HCommunity Foundation, the situation is clear: “It’s an extremely fragmented market, where a few major players concentrate most of the value. Our mission is to defragment this industry, consolidate the data, and return power to those who actually create value: hoteliers, restaurateurs, and destinations.” According to Chirstopher, the hotelier holds the most precise and valuable data: that from the ground. By unifying and anonymising it, this information becomes a balancing tool against the dominance of large platforms: “If we manage to bring everyone together, power shifts back to the market.”
The Verbier Example: Data Already Serving the Destination
Simon Wiget, Director of Verbier Tourism, shared his destination’s advanced experience in data management. “We have implemented a tourism observatory that aggregates data from electronic arrival forms, weather reports, vehicle flows, energy consumption, and events.” This business intelligence tool, funded by the municipality of Val de Bagnes, already offers a clearer understanding of visitor flows. Yet, he emphasised another challenge: “The problem is no longer collecting the data, but interpreting it. Many small structures sit on a gold mine of information but lack the time or skills to make use of it.”
Sommet Education and HCommunity: A Structuring Partnership
In response, Sommet Education and HCommunity have combined their expertise. One providing academic strength, the other an independent governance framework. “We wanted to create an ecosystem where data is collected, anonymised, and shared transparently. Every contributor can access it free of charge through the Market Watch portal and compare themselves with their market, city, or region,” Christopher explained. Florent highlighted the partnership’s educational purpose: “Our role is to turn data into skills and operational know-how. We’re developing training modules, from individual hotel management to destination management, to help professionals ask the right questions, interpret data, and turn insights into action.”
The Key Role of Education: Giving Meaning to Data
For Bilal Hassan, Senior Lecturer at Les Roches Crans-Montana, the collaboration opens new academic horizons: “Hoteliers already have a lot of data but often don’t know what to do with it. Our mission is to turn storage into skill. We teach our students how to identify relevant data, analyse it, and make concrete decisions from it.” Thanks to the global Data Lake, students will now be able to work with real, anonymised field data. “It allows us to move from theoretical exercises to hands-on experience directly connected to the industry’s real challenges.”
An Ethical and Swiss Model
The HCommunity Foundation operates under a transparent governance model. All data is hosted in Switzerland, anonymised, and any monetisation with third parties (destinations, public bodies, etc.) is partially redistributed to contributors. “We want to reward those who keep this industry alive. The foundation model ensures both independence and fair value redistribution,” Christopher emphasised.
From Data to Guest Experience
Florent illustrated the tangible impact of data: “If I know my clientele is mostly families with a child, I can tailor my welcome, offer a discovery kit upon arrival, adapt my restaurant menu, or rethink my spaces.” Such micro-actions enhance satisfaction and foster loyalty: “When data is shared across a destination, everyone benefits: hotels, restaurants, and visitors alike.”
Ethics and Sovereignty at the Heart of the Model
Transparency remains essential. “This data belongs to local players. Our mission is to return that sovereignty to them, in a fair and sustainable way,” Christopher said. The foundation’s structure is built around three committees: academic, technical, and hospitality, ensuring collective and independent governance.
What’s Next?
In conclusion, Simon reminded that data should never replace the human touch: “Data is a tool for efficiency, but the guest experience must remain central. The right balance lies between digital intelligence and human intelligence.” Bilal sees a unique opportunity ahead: “For the first time, we can combine relational and emotional skills, the essence of hospitality, with true data mastery.” And as Florent summed it up: “Our ambition is to put hoteliers back at the centre, anticipate training needs, and contribute to a smarter, fairer, and more sustainable industry.”
