Group photo of President of IFT, panel members including IFT’s teaching staff and industry professionals, as well as the participanting students.
The Institute for Tourism Studies of Macao (IFT) hosted Tourism Education Student Summit ― Spring 2016 (TEd Summit) on 15 June 2016. This event was an opportunity for the Institute to showcase the best of its senior student researchers. Twenty students, after having completed an individual research-based investigation of the current state of affairs within the Macao tourism industry, were featured in this half-day event as they presented their research findings and responded to comments and questions from an expert panel, comprised of industry professionals and moderated by an IFT faculty member for each of the five concurrent sessions. Finally 5 students with the best papers were selected and were awarded scholarships(see below). * please findd the attached file The TEd Summit represents the first public event of its kind to celebrate and promote respect for the practical application of undergraduate research. It is the second time IFT has held this event. As a public higher education institution in Macao, IFT considers this element of it curriculum a flagship endeavor that will help to develop future managers. IFT is the only higher education institution in Macao that includes this individual research component as a graduation requirement for all its Bachelor of Science undergraduate candidates. Starting from the 2015/16 academic year, IFT’s Bachelor of Science daytime degree programmes have incorporated an individual capstone thesis/project, as a requirement, to ensure that its graduates have capacity, not only in practical operations but in analysing and understanding how to utilise currents trends in the industry. Altogether 282 students have successfully completed this research component in this academic year. Guiding students through a scientific process of investigation gives them essential managerial skills. This event was an opportunity for companies to view some of our best candidates as well as understand what the students have been able to discover through their investigations. The TEd Summit occur twice annually, with the Winter Summit occurring in January and the Spring Summit occurring in June, to coincide with our different cohorts of research candidates. Established in 1995, the Institute for Tourism Studies, Macao (IFT) offers the most extensive selection of tourism and hospitality related bachelor degree programmes in Macao, and about twenty thousand participants attend its vocational and professional training courses annually. IFT collaborates with 97 universities and tourism organisations around the world, and builds strong links with 500 leading tourism and hospitality corporations to offer internship opportunities to its students. Being the first institution accredited by the UNWTO.TedQual Certification System for tourism education, IFT has now 7 bachelor degree programmes with the Certification. Currently, the Institute has the most number of bachelor degree programmes certified under the System of any tertiary education establishment worldwide. IFT has received the Medal of Merit in Tourism from the Macao SAR Government, and won twice the Gold Award in ‘Education and Training’ from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).