The Student Orientations on 25 and 29 August marked the commencement of IFT bachelor degree and diploma programmes for academic year 2011/2012. Academic staffs, new students and more than thirty international exchange students participated in the ceremonies. In the ceremonies, President Dr. Fanny Vong extended the warmest welcome and the most sincere congratulations to the new faces. President Vong said 478 students chose IFT as their cradles of knowledge and competence reflected their confidence in IFT. She reminded the students, in addition to the devotion to their studies, they were also expected to actively involve in various activities and community services so as to develop their abilities and well equip themselves for making contributions to building Macao a World Travel and Leisure Hub. Their decisions in specialising in Hospitality, Tourism and service related programmes, at the time that our country announced her support to Macao's positioning as the World Travel and Leisure Hub, will bring them countless opportunities and challenges in future. Students should confront the challenges and grab the opportunities in order to find their ways to success. On the other hand, President Vong mentioned that the application figures of 2011/2012 academic year were quite satisfactory. In particular, for the brand new bachelor degree programme of Culinary Arts, number of the applicants was almost 9 times of the admission figure. In recent years, there have been many international hotels and resorts entering Macao which results in the lack of local talents in fine dining sector. To meet the demand of talents, professionals have been imported from other countries and regions. As the prospect of employment grows more optimistic, it is believed that the Culinary Arts degree programme will become the first choice among the prospective students who plan to devote to the related sector. To cater for industry members or individuals who are interested in taking tourism and service related programmes, IFT launched two evening bachelor degree programmes of Hotel Management and Tourism Event Management last year, with Chinese as the medium of instruction. In President Vong's welcome speech, special acknowledgement went to the evening programme students for their determination and perseverance in continual study. IFT is welcoming its 16th Anniversary in September. Since established, IFT has been introducing diversified programmes at different levels, well balancing theoretical and practical teaching by working closely with the industry, and maintaining strong networks with a good number of renowned international institutes as well as organisations in the tourism fields. Through various forms of cooperations with these partners, students are enriched with international perspectives. At the same time, IFT also encourages students to step out for internship and exchange programmes that connect to partner institutes in Asia Pacific, North America and major European cities. The Institute looks forward to progress and innovate with its students. Together they share the responsibilities of serving Macao.
