Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) held a student orientation for the academic year 2023/2024 on 18 August, welcoming around 600 new undergraduate and postgraduate students from Macao, Mainland and beyond.
In the speech to the new students during the ceremony, President Dr. Fanny Vong warmly welcomed them to join the lively and culturally diverse community of IFTM. She mentioned that students can expect an international educational environment from the outset. With some of the best resources in tourism and hospitality education, students can devote themselves to studies with enriched campus life here. IFTM has forged partnerships involving five Switzerland’s renowned education institutions offering “3+1 Dual Bachelor’s Degree Programmes”. IFTM has also launched “1+1 Dual Master’s Degree Programme” with the University of Queensland in Australia. Moreover, the Institute offers a series of internship opportunities across the world with its over 750 partner institutes and organisations, as well as a wide range of exchange programmes with around 170 higher education institutions.
Dr. Fanny Vong stated that IFTM is paying close attention to how technologies and big data are enhancing the development of the tourism and hospitality industry and the demand for sophisticated talents. The Institute is putting forward this academic year the Master of Science in Digital Marketing and Analytics as well as the Master of Philosophy in International Hospitality and Tourism Management, with multiple specialisations. The programme is crafted to enable students to develop research capabilities and analytical skills in matters related to tourism and hospitality. She reassured that IFTM will actively launch more undergraduate and postgraduate programmes to cultivate advanced and versatile talents.
Dr. Vong urged the new students to develop a greater sense of responsibility and mission now that they had become a part of IFTM. She also encouraged them to study hard and constantly explore new things by making full use of the pedagogical resources available while actively taking part in campus activities and training opportunities. She hoped that the new students would acquire new knowledge, innovative skills and thinking, so they could stand out in future competition. Finally, Dr. Vong wished all students would enjoy their wonderful campus life and grow together with the Institute.
In order to strengthen the education on the spirit of “loving the motherland and Macao”, and to provide new students with a better understanding of the country, the Institute held the first flag-raising ceremony in this academic year and two seminars and invited Prof. Lok Wai Kin, Director of Centre for Constitutional Law and Basic Law Studies, Faculty of Law of the University of Macau to deliver the talk on “The Correlation between the National Constitution Law, the Basic Law and the National Security Law”. In addition, to enhance the awareness of students on scam alert, with the assistance from the Judiciary Police, IFTM invited Mr. Fong Pok, Senior Criminal Investigator, to deliver a talk on "Cybercrime and Fraud Prevention” to call their attention on crime commitment and fraud traps.
