Greater Bay Area Main Headline

IFTM training course the first fruit of new Greater Bay Area alliance for tourism vocational education

中文摘要 / Summary in Chinese

IFTM held a 2-day training course in December for teaching staff of the Jiangmen Polytechnic, an institution in Guangdong Province. The course was the first outcome of the newly formed Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Tourism Vocational Education Alliance.

The course was based on materials developed as part of the Macao Occupational Skills Recognition System (MORS) for the training of waiters or waitresses in Western-style restaurants. It took place on 26 and 27 December in Jiangmen and IFTM School of Continuing Education Coordinator for Food and Beverage Courses Mr. Edwyn Tam was in charge of delivering the programme.

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Tourism Vocational Education Alliance was formed on 10 December. The alliance promotes exchanges of staff, resources and information among the various stakeholders in the tourism industry in the Greater Bay Area.

The alliance brings together institutions of vocational training, businesses and trade associations. The founding members include 7 institutions of vocational training and 3 companies involved in the tourism sector.

December’s IFTM training course was taken by 7 teachers of the hotel management programme at Jiangmen Polytechnic.

IFTM and Jiangmen Polytechnic began collaborating in MORS instruction last March, when IFTM staff gave Jiangmen Polytechnic trainees 2 programmes of training in the work of front desk agents. One programme was for beginners and the other for instructors.

MORS is an important long-term endeavour by the IFTM School of Continuing Education. It is the result of a joint effort by the Macao tourism industry and IFTM to establish a training scheme leading to certification for certain front-line jobs. Workers can have their skills assessed and earn the appropriate MORS certificates.

The system was introduced in 2001, with the support of the European Union. The Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) has given the scheme the PATA Gold Award in Education and Training. MORS now covers the skills required to do 15 different jobs.