Dr. Fernando Lourenço, Katya Maia and Sally Victoria Benson from Macau Lifestyle took a photo with the students.
Students from Tourism Retail and Marketing Management Bachelor Degree Programme at the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) helped Macau Lifestyle, a local digital media in Macao, to identify new customer markets and business opportunities.
The consultancy project was jointly led by Dr. Fernando Lourenço and Macau Lifestyle. Students researched and proposed ideas to help the company to target the customer markets including Republic of Korea, Chinese Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR. Through providing valuable support for local enterprises and entrepreneurs, students could be able to gain real-world experience.
Macau Lifestyle is a young media outlet dedicated to promoting Macao. It was founded in 2015 by Macao based young entrepreneurs, Katya Maia and Sally Victoria Benson. It is an online platform that allows visitors, locals, and non-resident workers to get around, find services, have fun, and live better in Macao. The website uncovers hidden hotspots, locates essential service providers, covers upcoming events, and offers reviews on cuisine and entertainment.
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 101 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 8 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. In 2017, the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) has received a successful International Quality Review(IQR) from the UK's Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA), making IFT to become the world’s first higher education institution to receive this international recognition. IFT has been ranked by the “QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017” as the 2ndbest higher education institution in Asia in the field of hospitality and leisure management and the 18th best higher education institution in this field in the world. In addition, 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).