Ursula Gehbauer Tichler

Ursula Gehbauer Tichler joined the Swiss School of Tourism and Hospitality (SSTH) in August 2011. She was appointed as CEO and Chief Academic Officer at the same time. SSTH offers a comprehensive study program for Swiss and international students up to Bachelor level. It emphasizes hands-on, problem-based learning and offers students personal support to foster intercultural and self-competence. 

Ursula grew up and is living now again in Switzerland, her mother being from South Tyrol, Italy and her father from Brno, Czechia. Her husband is Dutch, she speaks six languages.

Ursula has a masters degree in German and English linguistics and literature at the University of Zurich, where she also earned a Ph.D. after an international Ph.D. student program at the University of Utrecht, NL. She added an eMBA at the University of Zurich in 2009, with study visits in Yale/USA and Fudan University in Shanghai/China.

Ursula has an extensive experience, and network, in the educational as well as in the tourism/hospitality industry. Already throughout her whole study she had been working as a lecturer and research associate in the field of communication and management. She also founded the first exchange platform for in-service training in the Zurich area.

As a Municipal Councillor of her town in the Engadine she headed the departments of Education, Culture, Leisure and Tourism. On various boards and in commissions she contributed to the repositioning of the communities in the St. Moritz/Engadine area as touristic destination and the development of strategic thrusts.

Passionate about intercultural exchange and leveraging her network, she co-founded interculture in 2011, a platform of experts with country-specific knowledge to facilitate intercultural awareness and synergies in the workplace.