The Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) and the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a Global Center for Tourism Education and Training in a joint initiative of the local government and the UNWTO.
Once the facility is set up, both parties will work together to implement projects in three big areas, including “delivering training and education programs, carrying out joint tourism research projects, and offering technical placement and internship opportunities,” IFT’s president Fanny Vong explained.
Speaking on the sidelines of the plaque unveiling ceremony marking the inauguration of the new campus in Taipa, Fanny Vong said that the IFT started managing the facility less than a week ago and did not need to make any special modifications.
IFT’s new Taipa campus consists of part of the former University of Macau Library, the staff quarter building, two laboratories and the East Asia dormitory Hall. Its total area is twice the size of IFT’s Mong-Ha campus.
“The newly added premises will greatly increase the capacity of IFT and this implies that we are going to be able to hold classes there, and even move programs to the Taipa campus,” said the IFT head, adding that the institute is already looking into moving some classes at the beginning of next year.
Another feature of the school’s new premises that Fanny Vong highlighted is the dormitory hall, which will allow the institution to move students into the Taipa campus by the end of the year.
The plaque unveiling ceremony was attended by the Chief Executive Chui Sai On, the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture, Alexis Tam, and Taleb Rifai, Secretary General of UNWTO.
Speaking on the sidelines of an international symposium on the past and future of tourism held by IFT’s Tourism Research Centre, the director of the Tertiary Education Services Office Sou Chio Fai told journalists that the transferal of the premises, that was inaugurated yesterday, was part of the government’s plan to support the “only institution in Macau that provides education in the area of tourism.” He noted that the government wants to promote this aspect as part of the territory’s transformation into a “world centre of tourism and leisure,” also allowing the institution to “expand its offer to include higher qualifications, such as Masters and Doctorate programs.”
Mr Chou, when questioned by journalists regarding the future quotas for students from mainland China, said: “At the moment, we have an effective mechanism to manage the number of students that are coming from mainland China.”
“It is time for the institutions to think about readjusting their role,” he also stated.
According to official data, the percentage of the labor force in Macau with higher education is still lagging behind other Asian countries and territories like Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore.
“That leaves a good progression margin to create opportunities or second opportunities for members of the Macau workforce to earn a higher education degree and for others to undertake a higher degree of study,” Sou Chio Fai said. RM
sou chio fai: no comments on um student association case
The director of Tertiary Education Services Office (GAES) Sou Chio Fai refused to comment on an alleged interference by the University of Macau (UM) in its student association election case. Stating that the UM and its student association are “independent organizations that enjoy from their own autonomy,” Sou Chio Fai said that “this autonomy should always prevail.”
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