Pictured above: James Bowie

James Bowie, Operations Manager at The Belmont Hotel, Leicester has won a fantastic £10,000 scholarship and a place on a fast-paced 10 day intensive course at Cornell University in the USA for hospitality managers of the future.  

Over 100 candidates submitted a written application for the award, of which 25 were invited for a day of interviews at the Master Innholders HQ in London. Sixteen were selected to receive a scholarship funded jointly by the Savoy educational trust, the Worshipful Company of Innholders and the Master Innholders. Of these sixteen candidates, only three from the UK were selected to attend the General Managers Programme at Cornell University in New York State; an intensive programme designed to turn managers into strategic thinkers.

This prestigious scholarship programme has been set up to develop talent within the hospitality industry and candidates at the interview process included people from Gleneagles, Chewton Glen and a host of other prestige properties. In the past 27 years, the General Managers Programme has hosted more than 1,200 participants representing 78 countries. Participants like James Bowie gain an invaluable connection to an international network of elite hoteliers from within the programme.

James Bowie said: "I was thrilled to be awarded this amazing scholarship, it's a great opportunity to learn from some of the best minds in the business and I look forward to bringing what I learn back to The Belmont Hotel, Leicester."

The Belmont is an independently owned and managed 75 bedroom hotel on the corner of De Montfort Street and the historic New Walk, ideally placed for Leicester City Centre.