The Netherlands has for many years been a popular exchange destination for IFT undergraduates. Shown Lei, a student in the Tourism Event Management bachelor degree programme, was one of the latest representatives from the Institute to spend a semester in the West European country.
Shown spent the second semester of academic year 2017/18 as an exchange student at the NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences. Breda – which has a population of around 180,000 people – is in the southern part of the Netherlands. It is a picturesque city dotted with Gothic churches.
One of the reasons why the Netherlands is so popular as an exchange destination among IFT students is because the country offers convenient access to the rest of Europe. During his stay there, Shown toured a total of 25 cities across an aggregate of 9 countries.
He says being able to travel so much brought him plenty of new experiences – and also some surprises. Shown’s experience of sleeping on the streets of Venice, Italy is a case in point.
“I didn’t know airports have opening times,” he says. “I booked a cheap flight [from Venice’s airport] early in the morning and planned to stay at the airport the night before. Suddenly a staff member asked me to leave because the airport was closing.”
It was his first experience – and he hopes his last – of sleeping on the streets.
Shown adds that the wealth of new experiences he encountered while travelling around Europe made him more mature as an individual, and also more independent.
Take the plunge
Shown says he was hesitant at first to go on exchange. He had been an active member of the IFT Student Union, and was considering running for President. Eventually, following advice from a trusted friend, he decided instead to spend a semester studying abroad.
“When I arrived to the Netherlands, I regretted going out of Macao,” he admits. “I couldn’t see any improvement in my English language proficiency, and in my knowledge levels. I couldn’t even make many friends among foreigners.”
Eventually, things started to improve, Shown says. But it was only once he was back to Macao that Shown was able fully to grasp the benefits he got from the exchange programme, he reports.
“I strongly recommend IFT students to grab the chance to venture out and see the world… If you cannot go on exchange, then go for internship. IFT has connections with many hotels [outside Macao] for internships. We as IFT students should take advantage of these opportunities to go outside Macao in order to learn more.”
He gives a few words of advice for IFT students that might be reluctant to venture abroad on exchange or internship: “You need to take action.”
IFT has partnerships with more than 100 universities and tourism organisations around the world, and strong links with close to 600 leading tourism and hospitality corporations, to offer exchange and internship opportunities to its students.
