From a single classroom in a Bellville manor house to one of the Western Cape's most respected boutique hospitality schools — this is the IHT story.
IHT Hotel School (Pty) Ltd opened its doors in 1994 with a simple conviction: that hospitality is a craft of warmth, detail and service best learned in small numbers, in a place of beauty, and through genuine practice.
More than thirty years later that conviction is unchanged. We remain a deliberately boutique institution, welcoming a limited intake to the gracious Bloemhof Manor House each year so that no student is ever lost in a crowd. In 2008 we were formally registered as a private higher-education institution with the Department of Higher Education and Training (Reg. No. 2008/HE07/008), and our flagship Diploma in Hospitality Management carries full HEQSF-aligned, NQF Level 6 accreditation.
Our home in the Cape Winelands corridor — surrounded by celebrated wine estates, restaurants and resort hotels — means our students learn within arm's reach of the industry they are about to join.
IHT Hotel School welcomes its first class of aspiring hospitality professionals to a single teaching room in Bellville.
The school relocates to the historic Cape Dutch Bloemhof Manor House on Riesling Street, Oude Westhof — still our home today.
Registered with the DHET as a private higher-education institution (2008/HE07/008), formalising our academic standing.
State-of-the-art professional kitchens and a student-run practice restaurant are opened in the manor's converted coach house.
We celebrate our two-thousandth graduate placed into the hospitality industry across South Africa and abroad.
A new generation of students continues a thirty-year tradition of warm, world-class hospitality education.
To develop confident, capable and caring hospitality professionals through accredited, practice-led education delivered with personal attention in an inspiring heritage setting.
To remain the Western Cape's most respected boutique hospitality school — where small classes, real mentorship and genuine warmth produce graduates the industry seeks out by name.
We model the warmth and generosity we teach, every single day.
We hold ourselves to the five-star standards our graduates will be expected to deliver.
Every student is known, mentored and championed as an individual.
We celebrate the people, produce and landscapes of the Western Cape in all we do.
"For over thirty years it has been my privilege to watch nervous first-years grow into the confident managers, chefs and entrepreneurs who lead our industry. At IHT we never forget that hospitality is, above all, about people."
"We keep our classes small on purpose. We teach in a beautiful old home on purpose. And we send every student into real kitchens and dining rooms on purpose — because there is no substitute for doing. If you have the heart for service, we will give you the skill. I look forward to welcoming you."
Mr Frederick Anton Smith
Managing Principal, IHT Hotel School (Pty) Ltd
Three decades of careful placements have woven IHT alumni into every corner of South African hospitality — and onto the dining rooms, decks and management teams of some of the world's most demanding employers.
Front-of-house, food-and-beverage and guest-experience roles at the heritage wine estates, country hotels and boutique lodges that line the valleys around our manor.
Management trainees, rooms-division officers and food-and-beverage supervisors in the flagship hotels of Cape Town, Johannesburg and beyond.
Hospitality and culinary positions aboard the major cruise operators — a popular pathway for graduates who want to travel while they build their careers.
Commis and chef-de-partie positions in the award-winning kitchens of the Western Cape, where many of our culinary alumni go on to lead their own brigades.
Private game lodges and safari camps across Southern Africa, where IHT's emphasis on warm, personal service finds a natural home.
A growing community of alumni-led guesthouses, restaurants, event companies and consultancies — proof that an IHT diploma is also a foundation for entrepreneurship.
Curious which of these pathways the Diploma in Hospitality Management can open for you? Explore the programme →
IHT Hotel School (Pty) Ltd is a registered private higher-education institution. Registration does not imply endorsement of any particular programme by the DHET.
