The Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao has been invited by the Administration Bureau of Mount Lusan Scenic Spot - Mount Lushan World Heritage Office, Jiangxi China to provide a train-the-trainers workshop on the Cultural Heritage Specialist Guides Programme for UNESCO heritage sites. The three-day workshop, facilitated by IFT instructors, took place on 11-13 March, 2010 at IFT. IFT cements its position as leader of heritage management education by providing specialised UNESCO World Heritage training to curriculum developers, managers and trainers of Mount Lushan World Heritage Office. Appointed the Knowledge Management Hub of the Asian Academy of Heritage Management (AAHM) by UNESCO and ICCROM in 2009, IFT is committed to the development of heritage management education in Asia. This customised three-day training aims at building the capacity of heritage professionals from the Administrative Bureau of Mount Lushan Scenic and Historic Spots to bring about the professionalisation of World Heritage guiding and interpretation at the Mount Lushan World Heritage site. In timely response to concerns of high-impact tourism at World Heritage sites in Asia, AAHM launched the Cultural Heritage Specialist Guides Programme in 2005. This rigorous, practical and internationally-recognised training and certification programme is being implemented through active partnerships between members of AAHM, training institutions from the UNESCAP Asia Pacific Education and Training Institutes in Tourism (APETIT) network and National Tourism Organisations (NTOs), with the Institute for Tourism Studies serving as the Knowledge Management Hub and UNESCO providing technical advisory.
