May at ESEI Business School: A Month of Industry Visits and Real-World Learning
May was another busy and exciting month at ESEI International Business School. Across every programme, students spent the month engaging directly with the professionals, institutions and organisations shaping their future industries, through guest speaker sessions, field visits and learning walks across Barcelona.
Here is a look at everything that happened.
Guest Speaker Sessions
Patricia Eberhard: Communication Strategy and Personal Branding
Students on the Master in Marketing and Communication, led by Professor Katya de Frederickz, welcomed Patricia Eberhard, a C-level personal branding specialist, for a session on communication strategy and personal branding in the age of AI. Her core argument was direct: most agencies fail not because they lack tools but because they lack contextual intelligence. In a world flooded with AI-generated content, personal branding is the only real hedge against invisibility.
Olena Pokalchuk: Community-Building and Ethical Digital Business
Bachelor students in Professor Arie Elbelman R.‘s class welcomed Olena Pokalchuk, Founder of Twotwo, CMO at MWDN and Barcelona Community Ambassador for Project Global Community. Her session explored how strong communities help companies navigate ethics, trust and responsible digital practices, drawing from her own journey in marketing and startups. “Learning from your own mistakes is easy,” she told students. “Learning from someone else’s is the real skill.”
Giuseppina Russo: Agile Way of Working
Students on the International MBA Agile Way of Working course, led by Professor Daria Vaguina, were joined by Giuseppina Russo for a guest session bringing real-world perspective to the Agile frameworks students are developing throughout the course.
Master in Tourism and Hospitality Management: Hotel Management and Operations, Professor Ariel Castillo
Students on the Master in Tourism and Hospitality Management Hotel Management and Operations course, led by Professor Ariel Castillo, visited two of Barcelona’s most distinctive five-star properties this month, exploring how very different hotels approach positioning, operations and guest experience in a highly competitive market.
At SLS Barcelona, guided by Ana Delgado and Inés Wainsztein Campos, students explored the brand new waterfront property at Port Fòrum, seeing behind the scenes of a lifestyle hotel designed for a social, experience-driven audience. They visited a deluxe suite, the pool and bar areas, the gym, the lobby and the back of house, and learned how SLS uses bold design, six dining and bar concepts and a distinct cultural identity to differentiate itself in a crowded market.
At Cotton House Hotel (Marriott Autograph Collection), students experienced the opposite end of the luxury spectrum: a traditional boutique five-star Grand Luxe property in the heart of Barcelona. The visit followed the same format, with an introduction to the company, a tour of rooms, common areas and back of house, and a look at the marketing strategies used to position the hotel in a highly competitive market.
Seeing both properties in the same month gave students a direct comparison of how two very different hospitality concepts, one cutting-edge and lifestyle-focused, the other classic and heritage-rooted, each build their identity and communicate it to their target audience.
Master in Sports Management: Ecosystems of Sport, Professor Gerard Valldeperez
Students on the Master in Sports Management Ecosystems of Sport course, led by Professor Gerard Valldeperez, had one of the most varied months of any programme at ESEI, visiting four very different organisations to build a complete picture of how sport functions at every level of the ecosystem.
At INEFC Barcelona, one of the most iconic institutions in the Catalan sports education landscape and part of the Olympic legacy of the 1992 Barcelona Games, students were guided through the facilities by Professor Susana Vega and received by Jose Luis, Rector of the University. The visit explored the complexity of managing a University of Sport Sciences located in a historic public building, and the challenges of international positioning, long-term legacy and continuing to generate value as a global reference in sports education.
At CEM Can Felipa, the focus shifted to indoor sport and the business of personal fitness. Students examined how a fitness facility operates as a service business, exploring subscription models, service upselling through personal training and classes, the rise of gym culture and fitness communities, and how wearable tech and progress tracking are reshaping the member experience.
At Mar Bella Centre Esportiu, students explored sport as a social infrastructure, looking at how a municipal sports centre serves its local community through social activities, training clubs and athletics programmes. The visit put community management and public service at the centre of the sports management conversation.
At SPODEAL, students visited a sports business agency operating at the intersection of technology, data and long-term partnership building. CEOs Joan Carles Raventos and Jordi Camps welcomed the group and shared how SPODEAL approaches the sports ecosystem differently, using experienced people, data analytics and technology to create value for their partners.
Master in Sports Management: Technology in Sports, Professor Josep Monti
Students on the Technology in Sports course, led by Professor Josep Monti, visited two organisations this month that brought the intersection of sport, data and technology to life in very different ways.
At Soccer Systems Pro, students explored how technology is reshaping the analytics, performance and operational side of professional football.
At CE Europa, one of the original ten founding clubs of LaLiga in 1928-29, students visited the historic Nou Sardenya stadium in Gràcia and were welcomed by Eduardo Urquia, Scouting Manager. Following the recommendation to watch Moneyball before the session, Eduardo delivered a masterclass on how the club uses data to manage player scouting, showing how modern analytics tools are being applied not at a top-tier club with unlimited resources, but at a historic club with a forward-thinking approach to making data work at every level of the game.
Master in International Relations and International Business: Diplomacy in the Digital Age, Professor Hani Anouti
Students on the Master in International Relations and International Business Diplomacy in the Digital Age course, led by Professor Hani Anouti, visited CIDOB, Barcelona’s leading think tank in global affairs and foreign policy.
The visit included a presentation on CIDOB’s mission and current research areas, insights into contemporary diplomatic challenges, digital transformation in diplomacy and global governance, and a Q&A session with researcher Javier Borràs. For students studying international relations in a digital age, hearing directly from researchers working on the challenges shaping global diplomacy today brought the course content into sharp focus.
Bachelor in Business Management: Strategic Marketing in Action, Professor Ariel Castillo
Bachelor L4 students on the Strategic Marketing in Action course, led by Professor Ariel Castillo, visited PANGEA The Travel Store, one of the biggest digital and face-to-face travel agencies in the world. The visit centred on how PANGEA has reinvented the traditional travel agency business model across a 1,700 square metre store, combining physical experience with digital conversion in a way that has made them one of the most talked-about retail concepts in the travel industry.
A Month That Reflects What ESEI Is
May at ESEI was a reminder that the best business education does not stay inside a classroom. Whether exploring the back of house at a brand new five-star lifestyle hotel, sitting down with researchers at one of Europe’s leading foreign policy think tanks, or walking through the operations of a sports business agency, our students spent the month learning where it matters most: in the real world.
Explore ESEI’s Programmes
👉 If you’re considering starting your own journey in Barcelona, explore ESEI’s Short Courses, Bachelor’s and Master’s and MBA programmes and see how we can support you on your study abroad journey.
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