2nd Moviestar Award for hospitality industry trainees 2025

On Sunday, 26 October 2025, Private Selection Hotels & Tours held its second Moviestar Award ceremony. This time, the young talents were honoured for their creative short videos about their apprenticeships at an Oscar-worthy event in the golden chamber music hall at DAS MORGEN in Vitznau.

True to the motto of Private Selection Hotels, ‘Happy are those who can make others happy,’ the apprentices showed why their apprenticeship in the hotel and catering industry is the best in the world. Starting in summer 2025, short films in TikTok format were submitted, either individually or as a team. The passion for the profession was clearly expressed in all the videos and shows that the next generation of the hotel industry is starting its future with enthusiasm, team spirit and a spirit of innovation. The short films impressively convey how versatile, fulfilling and meaningful work in this industry can be.

Around 150 invited guests from the hotel, tourism, education and media industries watched the awards ceremony with excitement. The popular trophies were awarded in five professional categories. Once again, presenter Cloé Maria Salzgeber guided the audience through the evening with great sensitivity and charm.

At the start of the event, Rolf E. Brönnimann, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Private Selection Hotels & Tours, highlighted the significance of the occasion. For him, a solid basic education is of central importance. It forms the foundation for a successful professional future. The Moviestar Award is therefore an important tool for Private Selection Hotels & Tours to promote young talent in the hotel industry and raise the profile of apprenticeships.

At a time when promoting young talent is more important than ever, the creative potential of the students was recognised by a high-calibre jury:
Urs Langenegger (Hotelier of the Year, CEO of Hospitality Visions Lake Lucerne AG), Heinz Margot (actor, restaurateur, presenter), Elian Schmid (HotellerieSuisse), Nicole Martin (SHL Lucerne), Alexia Correia Baptista (media specialist at Private Selection Hotels & Tours) and TikTok star Thispronto, one of Switzerland's most successful influencers with over 16 million followers worldwide.

The first laudatory speech was given by Christa Augsburger, Director of SHL Swiss Hotel Management School Lucerne. She announced the first winners, namely the winning duo Angelina & Enya in the category HGT Businesswoman from Hotel Heiden.

Swiss actor, presenter and restaurateur Heinz Margot sent a video message, as he was unfortunately unable to attend the event in person due to the autumn trade fair. In his speech to the restaurant service staff category, he emphasised that this profession is one of the best in the world if you manage to stay calm and always be friendly – not only towards guests, but also when dealing with colleagues. He was delighted to announce the winner, Luana from the Hotel Eden Spiez.

Urs Langenegger, CEO of Hospitality Visions Lake Lucerne AG and Hotelier of the Year 2025, found moving words for the winning video in the "hotel specialist" category. With plenty of charm, enthusiasm and passion, the protagonist took viewers on a journey through her everyday life at the hotel and even into her home. The winner: Lea from the bora HotSpaResort in Radolfzell on Lake Constance.

In her laudatory speech, Elian Schmid, who is responsible for education marketing at Hotellerie Suisse, emphasised that the jury had found it particularly difficult to choose a winner from the numerous outstanding films in the ‘HoKo’ (hotel communications specialist) category. In the end, Marvin's video from Seehotel Wilerbad won them over: it picks up on a current TikTok trend, integrates colleagues into the scenes and tells the story of his varied training without words, but with impressive visual imagery.

Before the final award in the chef category, the audience welcomed Silvana Lindt, managing director of Cuisine sans frontières, to the stage. For 20 years, the association has been working tirelessly to promote peace and literally bring people together around the table. With projects such as gastronomic meeting places and practical training programmes, Cuisine sans frontières creates concrete prospects for people in conflict and crisis areas. The rousing presentation left a lasting impression on the audience and provided food for thought for many.
It was particularly wonderful to see three young women from Nepal and Ecuador taking part in the film challenge as part of the Moviestar Awards. In their short films, they gave impressive accounts of their experiences as cooks and showed how much passion, courage and creativity young people can develop even in difficult life situations.

Thispronto, TikTok star and trained chef, gave the victory speech for the culinary profession. Here, too, the jury did not find it easy to reach a decision. Davyd's video from the Hotel Eden Spiez ultimately won out because it sparkled with creativity and impressively expressed the many facets of the culinary profession.

For the first time in the history of the Moviestar Awards, an audience award was presented, sponsored by HFT Graubünden. Guests, employees and relatives were able to vote for their favourite video in advance via an online poll. After Luzi Heimgartner, course director at HFT Graubünden, had introduced the Higher Technical College for Tourism & Management, the attractive prize was presented. The winner had the choice between two prizes: either a training voucher for the Higher Technical College for Tourism & Management worth CHF 300 or a voucher to attend a VIP event at the Audi FIS Women's Ski World Cup in St. Moritz.

The audience award went to Maxim, a trainee chef at Hotel Eden Spiez, who ultimately chose the prize of attending the VIP event in St. Moritz.

Finally, Esther Dysli, Managing Director of Private Selection Hotels & Tours, took to the stage. Proud of the apprentices, she emphasised that they are our future and live the motto ‘Happy are those who can make others happy’ with passion. They embody the values of hospitality, quality, authenticity and sustainability, impressively demonstrating how vibrant and inspiring the next generation of the hotel industry is. She also expressed her sincere thanks to all the participating apprentices, partners, sponsors and everyone involved on and behind the stage who made the Moviestar Award possible.

After the official award ceremony, vocational trainers, apprentices, relatives, representatives of schools, associations, partners and hotels alike enjoyed informal discussions over drinks and canapés, while souvenir photos were taken in front of the Wall of Fame. In the background, all the submitted videos played silently on a continuous loop, providing additional entertainment and topics of conversation.