Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) and College of Tourism, Huaqiao University, (CTHU), PRC signed the Memorandum of Cooperation on 18 October at IFT. President of IFT, Dr. Fanny Vong and Dean of CTHU, Dr. Zheng Xiangmin presided over the ceremony. College of Tourism of Huaqiao University was established in 2004, the formal tourism department (founded in 1983) of Huaqiao University, which is one of the few higher educational institutes in tourism verified by the Ministry of Educational of the People's Republic of China and also one of the earliest schools that are empowered to grant post graduate degree in tourism management in China. The college comprises three departments: tourism management, hotel management and tourist planning and attraction management; provides different programmes including PhD, MA and undergraduate education; and runs the Tourism Research Institute and Landscape Designing and Planning Centre, Tourism Experiment Centre and the Macao and Fujian Research Institute of Huaqiao University. CTHU, PRC and IFT entered into the Memorandum of Cooperation in order to promote international cooperation in education and research. This cooperation opens up future opportunities for academic staff/student exchange and study abroad programmes, joint research programmes and co-organisation of conferences and seminars which suit the interests and demand of local professionals. The implementation of the Memorandum of Cooperation facilitated the expansion of IFT's international network and levels of world-wide recognition. Both CTHU and IFT look forward to the tremendous cooperative opportunities that lie ahead.
