Hospitality Education in Thailand

50 Shades of Hospitality

In this podcast, John Lohr, who is currently theDirector of External Affairs at Dusit Thani College in Bangkok, talks to us about Thai hospitality and hospitality education in Thailand.

John’s decision to study hospitality at a prestigious Swiss hospitality school enabled him to understand the importance of a solid, practical and multi-cultural hospitality education and he has successfully used this experience on his career path. He also shares his experience of being an American studying in Switzerland and discovering classmates that came from over 90 different countries.

After several hospitality positions in several countries, John chose to follow a hospitality education path for several years and joined HOSCO, the world's largest hospitality network, in 2015. He became HOSCO’s Director of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation in 2021. Working in the hospitality recruitment field allowed John to follow this rapidly changing market and he comments on the challenges that hospitality recruitment faces today. Most importantly, John speaks frankly about how the hospitality field is not always ready to face these challenges and what he thinks companies can do to improve this.

Dusit Thani College in Bangkok, is Thailand's first and largest hospitality school. John currently drives international partnerships sales and strategies in his position as Executive Director External Affairs.

Earlier in his career, John worked with IHG hotels in Thailand and India and served as the Director of Business Development for the American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) in Europe. He has also held various board positions for EuroCHRIE, the Council of Hospitality, Tourism and Event Educators and is a member of multiple global hospitality education and training associations. He is a global citizen, a graduate of Glion Institute of Higher Education in Switzerland, has lived in over seven countries and currently resides in Bangkok, Thailand with his family.