On 7 January, the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) Open Day took place at IFT Main Campus and welcomed numerous high school graduating students, parents and the public. Through various treasure hunting activities, they came to know more about the Institute’s teaching philosophy, learning facilities and environment by means of treasure hunting.
Dr. Fanny Vong, President of IFT and Mr. Antonio Chu, Head of Technical and Academic Support Division of IFT introduced the Institute’s latest development and admission information, while several IFT alumni who are now serving in the tourism and service industry returned to the alma mater to share their study and work experiences with participating guests.
What made IFT Open Day unique was that the event, from planning to actual operations, was coordinated by IFT Tourism Event Management year 2 students. They took part in various roles to act as master of ceremony, welcome visitors and show them around the campus and activities, dedicated to give guests an unforgettable day! With IFT’s philosophy that theory illuminates practice, the event not only allowed IFT students to learn team work and put what they have learnt in classes into practice, but also shared their study experiences with the prospective students in attendance.
Tourism industry spearheads the economy in Macao. Established in 1995, the IFT offers the most extensive selection of tourism and hospitality related bachelor degree programmes in Macao, and about twenty thousand participants attend its vocational and professional training courses annually. IFT collaborates with 101 universities and tourism organisations around the world, and builds strong links with 500 leading tourism and hospitality corporations to offer internship opportunities to its students. Being the first institution accredited by the UNWTO.TedQual Certification System for tourism education, IFT has the most bachelor degree programmes certified under the System of any tertiary education establishment worldwide. IFT has received the Medal of Merit in Tourism from the Macao SAR Government, and won twice the Gold Award in ‘Education and Training’ from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). Besides, five of the IFT bachelor degree programmes namely Culinary Arts Management, Hotel Management, Tourism Business Management, Tourism Event Management as well as Tourism Retail and Marketing Management were recognised by the School of Tourism and Maritime Technology of the Polytechnic Institute of Leiria (IPL) in October 2015, allowing students graduating from these programmes to apply for and obtain the academic qualifications recognition from IPL, in which an equal sign is put between the recognition obtained from IFT and that from the European Union countries. Students can also choose to enroll in the master’s degree and doctoral programmes or even work in EU countries, thus their future career opportunities will be broadened.
The application period for IFT’s daytime bachelor degree programmes runs until 20 January inclusive. For more information about admission and full scholarship opportunity, please visit our website www.ift.edu.mo or dial 2856-1252 for enquiries.
Public Relations
Institute for Tourism Studies