IFTM President Dr. Fanny Vong delivers welcoming speech to students
Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) held a virtual student orientation for the 2022/2023 academic year on 19 August, welcoming a total of 494 new undergraduate and postgraduate students from Macao, Mainland and beyond. During the ceremony, a video of the flag-raising ceremony was played with the national anthem sung solemnly. In the speech to the new students, President Dr. Fanny Vong warmly welcomed them to join the lively and diverse community of IFTM with the academic staff who are committed to providing them with the best possible educational experience and transforming them into outstanding talents who can meet the needs of the industry as well as the society.
As one of Macao’s most prestigious public institutions for higher education, IFTM enables its students to access various kinds of exchange and internship programmes, be exposed to new ideas and broaden their horizons. The Institute will continue to innovate in pedagogy and help students better prepare themselves for opportunities and challenges brought by the new era of “Smart Technology + Tourism”.IFTM also dedicates efforts to the advancement of tourism training and education in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. That includes the establishment of several training centres in Guangdong Province, especially on the neighbouring Hengqin. Besides supporting students to fully utilise the Institute’s services, IFTM also offers full tuition waiver scholarships to outstanding students as well as a wide array of other fellowships and scholarships.
Over the past year, IFTM has been focusing on improving its teaching quality and strengthening international exchanges and cooperation so as to accelerate post-pandemic collaboration with the rest of the world. In the upcoming academic year, new elements related to information technology, artificial intelligence, innovation, and entrepreneurship are incorporated into the new curricula. Furthermore, the MSc and postgraduate diploma programmes in Smart Technologies in Hospitality and Tourism are launched to train a new generation of versatilemanagement talents.
According to the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022 for Hospitality and Leisure Management, IFTM jumps to 23rd in the world, ranking 3rd in Asia and 1st in Macao for six consecutive years. The Institute has also won the PATA Gold Award for the third time. Furthermore, in 2022, the UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education renewed the Institute’s International Quality Review (IQR), making IFTM the first higher education institution to gain reaccreditation worldwide.
In order to strengthen the education on the spirit of ”loving the motherland and Macao”, and to provide new students with a better understanding of the country, the Institute invited Prof. Lok Wai Kin, Director of Centre for Constitutional Law and Basic Law Studies, Faculty of Law, University ofMacau to deliver the talk on “The Correlation between the National Constitution Law, the Basic Law and the National Security Law”, and Ms. Fong Fong Tan, Acting Deputy Director of the Livelihood Affairs Bureau of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin to share her insights on “Development Opportunities for the Youth of Macao in the Cooperative Zone”. The seminar helps students gain latest update of the industry in the Greater Bay Area and learn more about the future development opportunities there.
Dr. Vong urged the new students to develop a greater sense of responsibility and mission now that they had become a part of IFTM. She also encouraged them to study hard and constantly explore new things by making full use of the educational resources available while actively taking part in on-campus activities and training programmes. She hoped that the new students would acquire new knowledge, innovative skills and thinking, so they could stand out in future competition. Finally, Dr. Vong wished all students would enjoy their wonderful campus life and grow together with the Institute.
