The programme coordinators from the Faculty of Innovative Hospitality Management Dr Jenny Guan of Hotel Management, Dr Christy Ng of Culinary Arts Management, and Dr Ubaldino Couto of Tourism Event Management, were invited by the Swiss Education Group (SEG) to visit their four schools in Switzerland, namely Swiss Hotel Management School, César Ritz Colleges, Culinary Arts Academy Switzerland and HIM Business School.
During the visit, the UTM delegation toured all the facilities across their five campuses in Montreux, Leysin, Caux, Le Bouveret and Brig, held meetings with management and faculty members, as well as visited the UTM students who are on the 3+1 and 4+1 programmes. Both the Swiss and Macao parties presented and consolidated their work report on the successful partnership. Based on the current foundation, both parties discussed extensively and agreed on expanding and strengthening the current collaborations such as dual degrees, exchange programmes, certifications, and other experiential initiatives so that students have different options to consider to expand their horizons and international exposure.
Dr Jenny Guan remarked that “the visit strengthened our understanding and insights of the Swiss programmes, therefore allowing us to explore different options to enrich our current collaborations”. Dr Christy added that “touring around and meeting with the management at the Culinary School enabled us to clearly map out the compatibility of our programmes and allowed us to highlight the key benefit for our students to pursue studies in Switzerland, particularly to enrich the courses related to European cuisine”. Dr Ubaldino Couto concluded that the trip was a success, highlighting the opportunities to meet with the Deans, management and faculty members in Switzerland, “we are able to bring forward a couple of solid ideas to work on so that our current offerings are enhanced with a comprehensive coverage of a variety of options for our students”.
The UTM delegation also experienced the campus life of students and the typical leisure and social activities that form part of the Swiss experience. The UTM students were both very delighted and excited with the visit from UTM, feeling a warmth from home like family. The trip was an overall success and the delegation is grateful for the opportunity and hospitality of the Swiss Education Group.
