Institute For Tourism Studies
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The Institute For Tourism Studies (IFT), established in 1995, the first WTO-Themis TedQual certified institution in tourism education, is a public institution of higher education that falls under the governance of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government, offering tourism and hospitality management degree programmes, as well as professional training.
The mission of IFT is to become a higher education institution of choice for tourism and hospitality studies with European characteristics. Not only for the benefits of Macao, but also for the Asia Pacific region, it will equip students with professional knowledge and technical competence in preparation for their future leadership responsibilities in the industry. In order to fulfil the above mission, the Institute has the following three characteristics:
- Unique Identity – The Institute operates independently, specialising in providing higher education and vocational training in tourism and hospitality management.
- Integration – It blends the best of academic development and professional training.
- Internationalisation – It seeks mutually beneficial co-operation with similar institutions abroad, actively promoting academic and student exchange activities.
In 1997, the Network of Asia-Pacific Education and Training Institutes in Tourism (APETIT), a body fully supported by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) selected IFT as the “training the trainer centre” offering training and advisory services for APETIT members in the Asia Pacific region. In the same year, IFT received from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) the Gold Award in “Education and Training”, which acknowledged the content and the quality of IFT’s programmes. In 2002, IFT was presented, again, with the same award for having set up the “Macao Occupational skills Recognition System” (MORS) for the local tourism and hospitality industry in collaboration with the European Union (EU).
In 1999, in co-operation with EU, the Macao-Europe Centre for Advanced Tourism Studies (ME-CATS) was established in the Institute, incorporating new European concepts of tourism and hospitality management into the tourism development of the Asia Pacific region. This centre aims at becoming a base for education and training in the Asia Pacific region. It promotes exchange of knowledge and experience between institutes of higher education in Europe and in the region.
In 2000, IFT became the first educational institution to be granted the “TedQual Certification” by the World Tourism Organization (WTO). This confirmed the international standard and quality achieved by IFT in education and training. In 2004, IFT successfully obtained renewal of the “TedQual Certification” till 2008.
In 2003, IFT was invited by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM) to be a founding member of the Asian Academy for Heritage Management (AAHM). This consortium networks institutes of higher learning throughout the Asia Pacific region that are engaged in the research and teaching of heritage conservation and cultural institution management. In response to sustainable tourism calls for a new breed of responsible and informed tourists concerns, the UNESCO-ICCROM Asian Academy for Heritage Management launched the Cultural Heritage Specialist Guide Programme in 2005. This rigorous, practical and internationally-recognized training and certification programme is being implemented through active partnerships between members of the Asian Academy, training institutions from the UNESCAP Asia Pacific Education and Training Institutes in Tourism (APETIT) network and National Tourism Organizations (NTOs), with IFT serving as the focal point and UNESCO providing technical advisory.
In 2004, The Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS) appointed the Institute as an Executive Member. It helps to develop the transnational educational initiatives in tourism and leisure of Macao, encourage exchanges between lecturers and students in academic researches, and enhance quality of the programmes provided by the Institute.
IFT will continue to strive ahead in its quest of learning and educational innovation, fostering professionals and making contributions to the tourism development of Macao and of the Asia Pacific region.
