The Panama Alumni Chapter celebrated its first-anniversary reunion, rounding out a year full of activities. It was held on 22 June in conjunction with the First Forum on Human Resources in the Hotel Industry and the first career trip organized by “César Ritz” Colleges Switzerland.

Around thirty alumni, former students, parents, industry representatives and staff members from “César Ritz” Colleges Switzerland gathered at Bennigan’s Causeway in Panama City. Special guest Jordi Pelfort, Corporate General Manager of Princess Hotels in the Caribbean and Mexico, also joined us. Coming from out of town were alumni from Costa Rica and Germany and an alumnus from our partner university, El Istmo, in Guatemala.

The reunion was the chapter’s fourth and each of them was honoured by the presence of a special host from Switzerland. Georges Ortiz came to the founding reunion, Tarsila Fercher to the second and Martin Kisseleff made a special appearance at the third reunion. We had the pleasure of welcoming Trude Gulbrandsoy, Christian Konrad and Tarsila Fercher to this latest reunion.

A high point in the evening was when Lourdes Ecker (MBA UCCR) handed over the presidency to Mileyka Bermudez. Lourdes is leaving the Panama Marriott Hotel to do management training at the Hilton Fort Lauderdale in Florida. We were very happy to have her in charge and wish her well in her new job.

The new president, Mileyka Bermudez (Higher Diploma UCCR), is currently working as Restaurant Supervisor at TWIST restaurant in Panama. Carmen Castrejon, the new vice-president, works as Event Coordinator at The Bristol – Leading Small Hotel of the World in Panama City. The presidency will alternate between them annually. We would like to wish them both the best of luck and look forward to many more fun reunions.

Reunions are not the only alumni activities in Panama. It is a very lively chapter with fun, open-minded people who stay in close contact and get together often. As more and more Latin American students graduate and seek opportunities close to home, we hope that the chapters there will grow and expand throughout the region to add to our already extensive worldwide network of alumni organizations.

Reto Leder

22 June 2008