News

Building on last year's success, Macau Idol Charity Gala Dinner will be held on 27th May this year at Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT). The event will be organized by David Wong, Executive Assistant Manager, Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) and IFT Hotel Management sophomores as their school project. Being a fundraising event, its purpose is to provide financial support to poor children who cannot afford an education in western provinces of Mainland China. The Charity Dinner will be held between 19:00-23:00 at Educational Restaurant, IFT. Ticket price will be MOP 1,200 nett per person, dinner and wine inclusive. During dinner, a singing contest will be held as an entertainment. There will be 6 participants showing their talent to the guests While enjoying the pleasant meal with the show, a wine auction will be proudly held. The wines are sponsored by Summergate, and the funds raised by the auction will all be donated to Action Oasis (2011) to support the education of the poor children in Mainland China. "Action Oasis (2011) – Giving Mainland Children Schooling Opportunities" is a fundraising campaign organized by the Chinese Educators' Association of Macao and co-organised by IFT along with other associations and universities. Its aim is to provide financial support to poor children who cannot afford an education in western provinces of Mainland China that suffer from desertification. Also, thanks to the support of the following hotels who are collaborating to prepare the buffet dinner at the event: Crown Towers Macau, Hard Rock Hotel Macau, Grand Hyatt Macau, Four Seasons Hotel Macau, Mandarin Oriental Macau, Sands Macau, The Venetian Macau Hotel Resort, Starworld Hotel Macau, and MGM Macau. For enquiries, please feel free to contact student representative Ms Rosana Lei by phone +853 6660 5225 or by email at S092329@ift.edu.mo.
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The art exhibition A Glimpse of French Contemporary Painting is a major event within the 22nd Macao Arts Festival and part of Le French May 2011. Organised by Tap Seac Gallery under the auspices of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the show opens to the public at 5pm on Saturday, 28th May in Tap Seac Gallery. The exhibition features paintings by eight renowned contemporary French artists: Ronan Barrot, Franck Chalendard, Champion Métadier, Marc Desgrandchamps, Philippe Cognée, Sylvie Fajfrowska, Olivier Masmonteil and Djamel Tatah. These painters, active in the international art arena, are continually exploring opportunities for development and innovation, and each of their distinct styles reveals a unique expressive concept. Variously abstract, figurative, descriptive, imaginative and conceptual, the artists each demonstrate in their own way an immense passion and perseverance in creativity. But this exhibition more than embodies the vivid expression of the participating artists; it is an insight into contemporary French painting culture. Through A Glimpse of French Contemporary Painting, Tap Seac Gallery seeks to share with the public the richness and wide variety present in contemporary French painting, enabling viewers to appreciate the artworks up close and stimulate their imaginations. The exhibition is open at Tap Seac Gallery, located at 95 Avenida do Conselheiro Ferreira de Almeida, from 10am to 7pm every day beginning 29th May until 14th August. Admission is free.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (24th May 16:01 till 25th May 16:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1187 and 0.1318μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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The workshop on "Cultural and Creative Industries & Intellectual Property", as organised by the Economic Services Bureau and integrated as part of the 2nd Eu-Macao Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field, is going to take place on 31st May and 1st June, from 9:30 to 12:30, in the Lotus Room of the World Trade Centre of Macao, Avenida da Amizade, no 918, 5th floor. This workshop will feature as its keynote speaker Professor Li Shunde, Deputy Director of the Intellectual Property Centre of the Beijing China Academy of Social Sciences, and the event will be conducted in Mandarin, with simultaneous translation into English. Amongst other topics, the following items will be analysed: 1. The relationship between cultural and creative industries & intellectual property; 2. The registration process of trademarks, design and copyright on the Mainland; 3. Cases of intellectual property right protection in the areas of cultural and creative industries on the Mainland and in Europe; 4. A comparative analysis of the intellectual property protection models used in China, Europe and Macao. This workshop aims at identifying a group of best practices for the cultural / creative industries and is also designed to introduce the system of intellectual property rights protection, as well as its importance, for the cultural and creative industries in Macao. The EU-Macao Co-operation Programme in the Legal Field, which incorporates this workshop, has as its main objective the "Consolidation of the Macao Legal System" and is going to take place until December 2012. The execution of the Co-operation Programme is coordinated by the Law Reform and International Law Bureau, and it involves several other entities of the MSAR Government, namely the Legal and Judicial Training Centre, the Legal Affairs Bureau, the Economic Services, the Financial Services Bureau and the Institute of European Studies.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (23rd May 16:01 till 24th May 16:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1169 and 0.1422μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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To provide diversified training opportunities for managers and professionals and to enhance the management quality of the local service industry, IFT and Cornell-Nanyang Institute of Hospitality Management co-orgainsed an Executive Development Programme on Revenue Management again on 23 & 24 May. The objective of this course is to help participants learn how to apply the principles of revenue management to maximize profitability. The programme attracted more than twenty registrations from senior managers of local hotels and resorts, and organizations from neighboring regions.
IFT has the honour of inviting Dr. Sheryl E. Kimes, professor of operations management at the School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University, USA. Professor Kimes earned her doctorate degree in Operations Management in 1987 from the University of Texas at Austin. She previously served as the interim dean and the Director of Graduate Studies of the School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University.
Dr. Kimes mainly teaches restaurant revenue management, yield management and food and beverage management. She has been named the school's graduate teacher of the year three times. She has published over 50 articles in leading journals and her research interests include revenue management and forecasting in the restaurant, hotel and golf industries. She has served as a consultant to many hospitality enterprises around the globe. The focus of the programme is on professional knowledge in revenue management. Topics covered include:
· a strategic view of revenue management
· right approach to manage the distribution channels
· total hotel revenue management · the role of revenue management in the future As the tourism industry is growing swiftly in Macao, so will the demand for knowledgeable professionals. Through discussions and case studies during the programme, participants learned updated concepts and obtained the latest information in revenue management to help them improve their strategies to effectively maximise profit for their corporations. IFT is always striving to enhance its research and teaching so as to contribute to the industry and the society. By organising seminars and workshops, IFT constantly shares with the industry the most updated information and research findings about the future development of Macao's tourism industry and ways to enhance it.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service (DSEC) indicated that under the influence of seasonal factors, consumption of Electricity decreased by 12.1% over the previous quarter to 736 million kWh in the first quarter of 2011, of which consumption by the Business sector decreased by 13.1% to 575 million kWh (Gaming sector shared 48.0%) and that by Households went down by 4.9% to 128 million kWh. Imports of Electricity dropped by 21.2% quarter-to-quarter to 476 million kWh in the first quarter of 2011, bringing its relative importance to available supply down from 70.0% in the previous quarter to 62.3%. Local generation of Electricity totalled 300 million kWh, up by 10.6% quarter-to-quarter. Imports of Natural Gas for electricity generation increased by 26.6% from the previous quarter to 53.55 million cubic metres in the first quarter. In the first quarter of 2011, consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) increased by 14.4% quarter-to-quarter to 12,417 tonnes, of which consumption by the Business sector (8,477 tonnes) and Households (3,868 tonnes) rose by 16.4% and 10.5% respectively. Meanwhile, imports of LPG increased by 25.0% from the previous quarter to 13,306 tonnes, with the average price of imports rising by 7.5% to MOP9.05 per kg. On account of higher prices of imports, the selling price of all types of fuels increased further in the first quarter of 2011; the average price of Unleaded Gasoline rose by 9.3% from MOP10.36 per litre in the fourth quarter of 2010 to MOP11.32 per litre, while that of Bottled LPG increased by 7.5% to MOP14.57 per kg. At the end of the first quarter of 2011, stock of LPG (3,047 tonnes), Gas oil & diesel (23.07 million litres) and Fuel Oil (13.18 million litres) registered quarter-to-quarter increase of 44.2%, 9.1% and 4.1% respectively.
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According to the monitoring data of Gamma Radiation recorded for the past 24 hours (22nd May 16:01 till 23rd May 16:00) by the Taipa Grande Station of the Macao Meteorological Bureau, the Gamma-ray absorbed dose rate per minute ranges between 0.1187 and 0.1405μGy/h (micro Gray / hour) which is far more below the warning level of 0.35μGy/h. The Macao Meteorological Bureau will continue to pay close attention to the radiation level in Macao. If any abnormalities being discovered, we will release related message to the public immediately and inform relevant government departments to adopt relative contingency measures.
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The Monetary Authority of Macao released today the credit card statistics for the first quarter of 2011. The total number of personal credit cards in circulation was 448,124 at the end of March 2011, representing an increase of 5.0% from a quarter ago. The numbers of Pataca (MOP) cards, Hong Kong Dollar (HKD) cards and Renminbi (RMB) cards were 350,328, 61,848 and 35,948 respectively. MOP cards, HKD cards and RMB cards witnessed respective increases of 3.8%, 3.2% and 21.9% quarter-to-quarter. On an annual basis, RMB cards soared 105.3% while MOP cards and HKD cards rose 19.0% and 10.1% respectively. As at the end of March 2011, credit card credit limit granted by banks in Macao reached MOP7.9 billion, up 3.7% from end-December 2010. Credit card receivables amounted to MOP1.2 billion while the rollover amount totalled MOP0.4 billion, accounting for 37.7% of credit card receivables. The delinquency ratio, i.e. the ratio of delinquent amount overdue for more than three months to credit card receivables, was 0.95%. In the first quarter of 2011, the credit card turnover dropped by 7.7% quarter-to-quarter to MOP2.3 billion. The cash advance turnover was MOP0.1 billion, accounting for 5.4% of total credit card turnover. Credit card repayments, in which payments for interest and fees are included, edged up 3.5% from the previous quarter to MOP2.5 billion.
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Information from the Statistics and Census Service indicated that total visitor arrivals increased by 10.7% year-on-year to 2,338,449 in April 2011. Same-day visitors (1,271,544) accounted for 54.4% of total visitor arrivals, with 694,935 coming from Mainland China. Analyzed by place of residence, visitors from Mainland China increased by 20.7% year-on-year to 1,270,753 (54.3% of total visitor arrivals), mostly coming from Guangdong Province (628,970), Fujian Province (76,145) and Zhejiang Province (47,188); those travelling to Macao under the Individual Visit Scheme totalled 495,424, up by 27.0% year-on-year. Visitors from Hong Kong (709,053) and the Republic of Korea (25,865) increased by 2.1% and 2.4% respectively, while those from Taiwan, China (110,410); Malaysia (27,122) and Thailand (24,468) decreased by 1.3%, 10.8% and 3.6% respectively. Total visitor arrivals reached 8,769,627 in the first four months of 2011, up by 6.6% year-on-year. Visitors from Mainland China (4,949,705), Hong Kong (2,488,047) and the Republic of Korea (132,295) increased by 12.8%, 2.8% and 22.0% respectively, while those from Taiwan, China (385,962); Japan (123,814) and Malaysia (102,276) decreased by 12.7%, 6.5% and 11.6% respectively. In the first four months of 2011, same-day visitors accounted for 54.6% of the total, at 4,790,205. Analyzed by mode of transport, visitor arrivals by sea totalled 3,455,019 in the first four months of 2011, up by 1.9% year-on-year. Visitors arriving at the Outer Harbour increased by 6.1% to 2,293,234, with the majority coming from Hong Kong (54.2%) and Mainland China (24.7%); meanwhile, those arriving at the Provisional Ferry Terminal in Taipa decreased by 8.3% to 1,015,032. Visitor arrivals by land increased by 12.2% year-on-year to 4,780,144 in the first four months of 2011; those arriving through the Border Gate totalled 4,422,097 and the majority were visitors from Mainland China (80.2%) and Hong Kong (13.8%). Visitor arrivals by air decreased by 6.8% year-on-year to 534,464. Visitors arriving at the Macao International Airport went down by 7.1% to 526,334, with the majority coming from Mainland China (36.6%); Taiwan, China (33.3%); and Malaysia (6.7%).
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