Ms. Ingrid Wu Yingyin, Mr. Liu Fan, Ms. Mandy Feng Minyan, and Ms. Ishtar Chan Kam Lun are part of IFTM’s first intake of PhD students for academic year 2023/2024. The Institute accepted 17 new doctoral candidates, the highest ever in a single intake. The 4 students interviewed here have high hopes their research will advance the body of knowledge in the tourism and hospitality field
A record intake of PhD candidates arrived at IFTM last month, as academic year 2023/2024 kicked off. The Institute looks forward to all 17 new doctoral students helping build on IFTM’s position as a world leader in tourism and hospitality research.
Their research topics encompass use of live streaming in e-commerce, development of cultural industry parks, and employee perception and work performance in Macao’s casino industry, among other areas. The breadth of subject matter to be tackled is itself a reflection of the wide range of expertise among IFTM staff.
The new students are drawn from a variety of educational backgrounds. Some have completed master’s degrees at IFTM or other Macao-based higher education institutions; some hold degrees from top mainland China universities; others completed initial postgraduate studies at institutions located as far away as either Singapore, France, or the United States.
IFTM’s doctoral programme was launched in 2019. Applications are open year-round. The normal study period per intake is 3 years. The programme has 2 intakes of students a year.
Newcomer Ms. Ingrid Wu Yingyin studied for her master’s overseas, at Fordham University, in New York City, in the U.S. For the next few years, her research at the Institute will cover the field of corporate social responsibility in China’s health and wellness sector within the tourism and hospitality industry.
She cites 2 main reasons for choosing IFTM for her doctoral studies. “The first is its reputation and rank,” she says, adding the Institute “has a great reputation in the hospitality and tourism industry”. The second was the wealth of resources IFTM provides to help PhD students complete their doctoral research.
At IFTM, she expects to “receive professional advice and feedback” from the Institute’s team of scholars, so that she can produce a high-value thesis.
After completing a master’s degree in tourism management in France in 2017, Mr. Liu Fan decided to enrol with IFTM to continue his postgraduate studies, attracted by the Institute’s “good reputation”.
His research will focus on the generation and sustainability of tourism hotspots via ‘memetics’. “Meme tourism can be defined as trips motivated by memes and/or tourists recreating memes during their travel,” he explains.
Proximity and quality
Fellow PhD student Ms. Mandy Feng Minyan sees IFTM as offering her the best of 2 worlds: an international study and research environment, and proximity to home. She lives and works in Zhuhai, the mainland China city neighbouring Macao.
“The distance between Macao and Zhuhai is perfect for me,” she says. “And IFTM has a strong connection with the industry and the enterprise world.” This, she says, is “helpful” when seeking to apply academic research to an industry setting.
Her research will look at immersive experiences in tourism-focused performing arts. “I hope my research can further discuss what is defined as an immersive experience in tourism performing arts, how immersive tourism performance experiences can be measured, and why immersive experiences are important to contemporary visitors and tourism destinations.”
Ms. Ishtar Chan Kam Lun, from Macao, hopes her work will help the city’s meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE) industry. She has around 15 years of professional experience in the field as an event producer and show director.
As part of her PhD studies, she will be looking at how to advance events-sector education, namely via curricula focused on event design and event creativity. She will draw on knowledge acquired during her master’s degree programme in education at the University of Saint Joseph in Macao.
“The ‘product’ of the event industry is the experience,” Ms Chan says. “I hope my research results – by promoting event design and creativity – can benefit different stakeholders, helping them to create better, more sophisticated experiences for their customers.”
While studying for her PhD, Ms. Chan plans to continue working in the MICE industry. On top of that, she is also a mother of a 6-year-old. She says juggling work, study and parenthood is possible not only because of the support of her family, but also because the PhD programme at the Institute has a “very flexible” structure.
