On 29 March, Dr. Fanny Vong, President of IFT and Mr. Aung Thu, Director of the Training and Education Department of the Directorate of Hotels and Tourism, Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Republic of the Union of Myanmar signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Myanmar’s capital city, Nay Pyi Taw. The objective was to cooperate in promoting sustainable tourism development through enhancing human capital and fostering collaborations in tourism education and training between Macao and Myanmar.
The ceremony was witnessed by Mr. Edmund Ho, Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Mr. Ohn Maung, Union Minister, Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Dr. Alexis Tam, Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of Macao SAR Government and Mr. Yee Mon, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Hotels and Tourism, Republic of the Union of Myanmar.
This Memorandum of Understanding signing is part of the itinerary during the visit to Myanmar with Macao’s delegation comprising representatives of industrial and commercial sectors led by Mr. Edmund Ho, Vice-Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
Earlier on October 12, 2015, Macao SAR Government and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Macao to enhance the cooperation between the two parties in improving the quality of human capital and increasing the competitiveness of tourism destinations (particularly in the Asia Pacific Region) in order to achieve sustainable tourism development. It also served to facilitate and strengthen cooperation to establish Macao as an international tourism training hub. In 2016, IFT officially established the Global Centre for Tourism Education and Training. Since its establishment, the Centre has organised 4 training programmes in partnership with UNWTO and 6 training workshops for Portuguese speaking countries. In total, over 140 tourism officials and professionals have come from 22 countries and regions to IFT for tourism related professional training.
In May 2017, 17 tourism officials and professionals from Myanmar attended a training programme at IFT on “Strategic Tourism Planning and Management for a Sustainable Future”, held by the Centre in collaboration with UNWTO.
After the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding with Myanmar, a group of 10 tourism officials and professionals from Myanmar will attend a professional training programme at IFT between 24 and 31 May this year, offered in collaboration with UNWTO, on the topic of capacity building for destination marketing and tourism development.
Established in 1995, the Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao (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 104 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 now 8 bachelor degree programmes with the Certification. Currently, the Institute has the most number of bachelor degree programmes certified under the System of any tertiary education establishment worldwide. In 2017, IFT became the world’s first higher education institution to pass the International Quality Review (IQR) from the UK's Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA). IFT has been highly ranked by QS World University Rankings in the subject area of Hospitality and Leisure Management. In addition, IFT has received the Medal of Merit in Tourism from the Macao SAR Government, and twice won the Gold Award in ‘Education and Training’ from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).