Redefining Hospitality Education Through Entrepreneurship

📌 The Scenario

A leading hospitality school in France had little to no previously implemented entrepreneurship within its curriculum. In 2024, the school partnered with Urone to co-build a dedicated entrepreneurship course for second-year students. The objective was clear: give students visibility into the startup world, equip them with practical tools, and support them in developing real entrepreneurial projects specifically tailored to challenges in the hospitality sector.

🛠️ Problem Solved

Urone addressed the school’s lack of experiential entrepreneurial learning by designing a 6-month applied entrepreneurship bootcamp. The program guided students to:

Conduct field research on current challenges in the hospitality industry

Develop startup ideas rooted in real sector-specific problems

Learn the fundamentals of business modeling and pitching

Build communication and presentation skills through simulated investor interactions

This hands-on structure replaced passive learning with active business creation.

🌟 The Result

• 75% of participating students developed a clear ambition to build and lead their own startups.

• Several student teams began actively developing their startup concepts, moving beyond ideation into real-world application.

• Startup concepts were built around pressing problems identified through field research in hospitality.

• Students delivered professional-level pitches, simulating real investor interactions and gaining cross-border readiness.

• The experience catalyzed the school’s efforts to formalize ongoing student entrepreneurship through a structured, student-led initiative.

🤝 Benefits of Working with Urone

Built sector-specific entrepreneurship curricula for hospitality, with proven expertise across education, health, sustainability, and tech.

Replaced traditional academic models with project-based startup development

Strengthened communication, problem-solving, and strategic thinking

Enabled a culture of entrepreneurship beyond the classroom

🚫 Pitfalls We Helped Avoid

• Entrepreneurship treated as a side-topic rather than a core skill

• Lack of student exposure to real-world problem-solving and startup practices

• Projects disconnected from hospitality industry needs

• No prior opportunities to pitch or develop entrepreneurial identity

• Missed potential to align student work with global impact frameworks (SDGs)