University News

IFTM is now Macao University of Tourism (UTM), marking a new chapter for tourism education in Macao

中文版本 / Chinese version
UTM pledges to build on IFTM’s legacy, enhance academic offerings, introduce new programmes, and improve infrastructure, with the aim of boosting even further the institution’s global academic standing

The Macao Institute for Tourism Studies – or IFTM, from its Portuguese acronym – becomes with effect from today (1 April) the Macao University of Tourism. Accordingly, the institution’s official names in Chinese and Portuguese have been respectively updated to 澳門旅遊大學 and Universidade de Turismo de Macau. 

As a result, the acronym ‘IFTM’ has been replaced by ‘UTM’, reflecting the new name as rendered officially in Portuguese.

The official website domain and email address domain are now ‘utm.edu.mo’, replacing the ‘iftm.edu.mo’ address. The latter will however remain operational until the end of 2025, in tandem with the new website and email domains.

In a statement marking the new designation as a university, UTM affirmed the institution would build on the powerful legacy dating from IFTM’s establishment in 1995. The Macao University of Tourism would uphold the commitment to innovation in tourism education, while fortifying and expanding existing academic offerings and enhancing teaching and research standards, thus bolstering Macao’s role as a World Centre of Tourism and Leisure.

The primary objective remains the cultivation of high-quality professionals capable of driving the growth of the tourism industry locally and globally. UTM is steadfast in its ambition to maintain and build on the position already forged by IFTM as a leading global academic institution in tourism and related service industry studies, the statement added.

The upcoming 2024/2025 academic year will see the introduction of several new academic programmes for UTM. These include a Bachelor of Science in International Business and Innovative Communication, two Master’s Degrees respectively related to Events Management, and a Doctor of Business Administration programme. Additionally, the legacy Tourism Retail and Marketing Management Bachelor’s Degree Programme will be rebranded as the Marketing and Brand Management Bachelor’s Degree Programme, featuring an updated curriculum.

Simultaneously, UTM is enhancing its infrastructure across its two campuses. Ongoing redevelopment efforts are focused on the Silver Jubilee Building and the Accommodation Building, both at the Taipa Campus, with the latter building earmarked for hospitality-related training. It is anticipated that completion of work on the two buildings will be in 2025. The effort will create cutting-edge academic facilities and hospitality training spaces to enrich the educational and research environment at UTM.

UTM also highlighted in its statement opportunities to expand the University’s work via engagement with the Guangdong-Macao Intensive Cooperation Zone in Hengqin. UTM can benefit from this innovative platform for cooperation between Macao and the neighbouring province of Guangdong, it said. Potential avenues to explore include research, teaching, and extracurricular activities for faculty members and students.

Editor: UTM Public Relations Team