Business & Hotel Management School (BHMS)

Business & Hotel Management School (BHMS) is a private hospitality, business and culinary school in Lucerne that opened a second campus in Zurich in August 2025. Its bachelor’s takes three years, and every six-month academic semester is followed by a six-month internship. The BA is awarded jointly with Robert Gordon University in the UK, and BHMS is not on the Swiss list of accredited higher education institutions. Year 1 of the BA costs $46,330 (CHF 38,600) on the 2026 schedule, a figure that already includes a shared room and meals for 24 weeks.

BHMS is a good fit if you:

• want a UK degree and three industry placements within three years;
• prefer not to wait for September, since the BA starts three times a year;
• like one invoice that already covers housing, meals, health insurance and permit fees.

Compare other schools if you plan to stay in Switzerland after graduating or need a part-time job during term. Accredited institutes such as Glion are treated differently under the SEM rules explained below.

BHMS is a registered private school that, in its own words, is approved by local authorities to deliver validated UK degrees within the QAA quality framework. The bachelor’s is built in steps: a Diploma in Business & Hospitality Management after Year 1, a Higher Diploma after Year 2 and, after Year 3, the BA awarded by BHMS and Robert Gordon University (RGU).

The school also lists industry quality marks: Institute of Hospitality accreditation, ACFEF accreditation for its culinary programmes, the Swiss eduQua label for continuing and adult education, and membership of the Swiss Federation of Private Schools, AEHT and EURHODIP.

What this means in practice. Because BHMS is not an accredited Swiss higher education institution, two SEM provisions for university students do not apply to it: part-time work of up to 15 hours a week after six months of study, and six months to look for a job after graduation. A BHMS student works legally in Switzerland through the internships built into the curriculum.

Rankings. BHMS reports 12th place in the QS 2026 subject ranking for Hospitality & Leisure Management and 7th for employer reputation. EHL tops that table, so check the full QS list rather than marketing material.

The main address is Gütschstrasse 2–6 in Lucerne. Students live and study on two sites: every City Campus room has a balcony and its own kitchen, while Lakeside Campus rooms have balconies and share a student kitchen. Bed linen and towels are exchanged weekly; students clean their own rooms with kits from reception.

The Zurich campus at Vulkanstrasse 106 opened in August 2025. It hosts the master’s programmes in banking and finance, airline business and sports management, and the MSc in Global Business Management moves there from November 2026. A German-taught bachelor’s with its own pricing also runs in Zurich.

Students come from more than 90 countries. German matters early: the first BA semester includes German Communication, and Swiss employers mostly want interns who speak German, French or Italian.

A BHMS bachelor’s is three cycles of “campus semester plus internship”, not four years of theory. The first two years are shared by the hospitality and business majors: service, rooms division, accounting, digital marketing, revenue management and HR. In Year 3 students specialise and complete their final assessments.

For master’s and MBA applicants aged 30 or over, BHMS notes that visa requirements differ, so raise this with admissions before applying.

Which intake works. BHMS allows up to 12 weeks for the visa, so the 16 November 2026 start is already too close for anyone who needs a type D visa. February and August 2027 are the practical options.

1. 5–6 months before the start. Take IELTS or an accepted equivalent and gather your school certificate, transcript and translations.
2. 4–5 months before. Apply. After the acceptance letter you have 10 days to pay the CHF 1,000 ($1,200) application fee.
3. 3 months before. Lodge the national visa D application; the embassy does not accept it earlier than three months before entry.
4. Once the visa is approved. Pay the first-year fees, which BHMS expects after the visa decision and before the first term begins.

• Passport.
• School-leaving certificate with transcript, or an official final-year record if you are still at school.
• English translations of your documents.
• IELTS or another test the school accepts.
• CV and a motivation letter explaining why you want a hospitality career.
• For the visa: acceptance letter, proof of payment, sponsor letter and bank statements.

Translation and legalisation take the longest, and the embassy expects diplomas with legalised translations in the visa file. Our guide to the Swiss student visa covers where to apply and the full document list.

BHMS sells study as a package: the invoice covers tuition, operating costs, a room shared by two to four students and meals during academic terms. Tuition rises by CHF 1,000 each year of the bachelor’s.

Three years come to $140,180 (CHF 116,800). Operating costs cover mandatory health insurance with a CHF 100 deductible, the visa, the B permit and local tax, e-campus access, excursions and the first airport pick-up. Housing during term breaks carries no extra charge.

Add these to your own budget:

• personal spending, which the school puts at CHF 500 ($600) a month;
• a single studio instead of a shared room: CHF 6,600 ($7,920) extra at Lakeside or CHF 7,500 ($9,000) at City Campus;
• flights, travel to your internship and living costs during placements unless the employer provides housing;
• the English course if you need it: 10 weeks cost CHF 7,800 ($9,360) including housing.

Discounts. Paying a term in full 90 days before it starts cuts CHF 1,000 ($1,200) from the invoice. The 30% reduction is only for Swiss citizens and C-permit holders, and the BHMS fees page lists no separate scholarships for international applicants.

Housing. A campus room is part of the package for every academic term, so you do not need to rent a flat in Lucerne in the first year. Single studios are booked for a surcharge, subject to availability.

Visa D. Residents of Russia apply by appointment at the Swiss Embassy in Moscow, and the cantonal migration office decides. BHMS supports the visa process and includes permit fees in operating costs, but the residence permit itself is issued by the canton.

Interning in Switzerland. BHMS quotes CHF 2,390 ($2,870) a month gross, before deductions for room, board and social security. According to the school, most Swiss positions depend on German, French or Italian, and front-office placements require excellent language skills. Internships abroad are also possible.

The BHMS careers team runs an internship induction, CV workshops, mock interviews and Career Days with employers, helps with the internship contract and visits students on placement. Employers assess each intern against agreed criteria, and students submit a written reflection on their development.

After graduating, the RGU degree supports applications to master’s programmes in the UK and elsewhere. Working in Switzerland requires a permit requested by an employer, and BHMS graduates do not get the six-month job-search window.

Mistakes we see most often in family budgets:

• assuming internship pay will cover tuition, when little is left after deductions;
• choosing the nearest November start without allowing up to 12 weeks for the visa;
• comparing the BHMS annual invoice with Glion or EHL tuition, where housing and meals are separate lines;
• planning on term-time work that SEM rules reserve for students of accredited institutions.

If BHMS is on your shortlist, we can compare its full budget with other schools, check your documents and prepare the application and visa file; this work is provided under an agreement with StudyU. BHMS decides admission, the cantonal migration office decides the visa and residence permit, and the canton approves internship work at the employer’s request. You can start on our consultation page.