A CONTINENTAL IDEA.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2360, 28 November 1908, Page 7

A CONTINENTAL IDEA.

SCHOOL FOR HOTELKEEPERS

Hotelkeepers hero are, it seems, get ting behind the times (says the Paris correspondent of the “Daily Telegraph”)- Whther they have not yet learnt to charge enough is not said, but they have been found lacking .in accomplishments generally. The Paris Chamber of Commerce accordingly proposes to start a high school of hotelkeeping. One such, establishment exists in Switzerland, at Lausanne. Of late years visitors to the French Riviera have been somewhat .’fewer, while winter resorts in Switzerland grow yearly more prosperous. The Chamber of Commerce seems to think that neither climate, nor the recent vogue of winter sports, nor new fashions dm medical treatment have much to do with the case, and that the fanlt lic s with French hotelkeepers. They are not properly trained to their business. Their Swiss colleagues graduate at the Lausanne High School, and come out proficient to the finger-tips in hotel-keeping. Hence their success is attracting visitors. The Paris Chamber of Commerce has made "a thorough investi- , gation of the Lausanne School, its methods and achievements, and reports very favorably upon it. There .seem to be few things which are not taught there. The complete science of hotel-keeping includes .a full proficiency ;in four languages, a thorough knowledge of geography, training .in deportment .and sa.voir vivre, the . study of hygienics, and a sufficient familiarity with 'gymnastics, calisthenics, and dancing. (Swiss hotelkeepers are able to practice with “.guests” on tho horizontal bars when required, or to waltz with young ladies at hotel balls when men are scarce.