The school’s namesake, César Ritz, is a well-known hôtelier and pioneer of the luxury hotel, Hotel Ritz Paris. In 1986, his daughter-in-law, Monique Ritz, together with The César Ritz Foundation, issued the school the right to rename the institution in his honor. As a result, the Institut Hôtelier César Ritz opened in Le Bouveret, and the Brig campus was later renamed University Centre César Ritz in 1997.
