Institute for Tourism Studies emphasises on both theoretical and practical learning. Students can choose to perform a 6-month internship programme in Macao or overseas organisations which are related to their specialisations, so as to apply the theory and practical techniques they have learnt in classes to actual work environment. It is hoped that students can keep up with market demands and get ready for their future career. Besides studies, IFT always encourage and support students to join more public activities in the areas of sports, culture, language, art, creativity etc., in order to maintain their mental and physical well-being.
In the academic year of 2012/13, IFT students participated in various extra-curricular activities and achieved outstanding results in sports events:
- The 9th University Games of the People’s Republic of China - 100m Breaststroke Men 1st Runner-up, which broke the record of Macao and was the first medal that students in Macao had ever won in this game;
- FINA World Championships, Sweden - participated and broke 2 short course records of Macao:
- Macao University Bowling Championship – the Champion
- Macau Open Taekwondo Championship - the Champion in Black Belt Female Adult Group A and 2nd Runner-up in Male Group F
- Macao University Volleyball Championship – the Champion in both women and men category;
- The 21st Hong Kong University Science and Technology Volleyball Tournament – the Champion in men category and 2nd Runner-up in women category
Other than sports activities, students also enthusiastically engaged and performed very well in other activities such as the 1st Young Macanese Cooking Competition, the 10th Macao Inter-Tertiary Debate Competition, the 4th Higher Educational Institutions Games’ Challenge in Pearl River Delta Region, the 5th Tourism and Hospitality Quiz, the 2nd Macao-wide Business Knowledge Competition, the 8th Macao Inter-Universities Writing Competition, etc.
IFT has been offering various types of extra-curricular activities for students to join, including jazz dance, step aerobics, Portuguese folk dance, samba, oil painting, sketching, architectural drawing, photography, film appreciation, choir, guitar, dragon boat, fencing, volleyball, badminton, basketball, squash, soccer, hockey, taekwondo, English/Mandarin debate, Portuguese, French, everyday Mandarin for foreigners, professional etiquette, theme cake workshop, skin care and make up workshop.
IFT hopes that students can effectively utilise their spare time, participate in more extra-curricular activities to get to know more people and new things in order to broaden their view and social network, these are all the essentials that tourism professionals should possess.