Main Headline President's Corner

Leaders of tomorrow

中文摘要 / Summary in Chinese

A new academic year is starting at the Institute for Tourism Studies.

On behalf of the whole IFT community – this partnership of students, scholars, researchers, supporting staff, alumni, the hotel and tourism sector and scholarship providers – it gives me great pleasure to welcome a new intake of students to the Institute.

The 427 new undergraduates represent on aggregate 7 different countries and regions, including the Macao SAR, the Hong Kong SAR, Mainland China, the Republic of Fiji, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Vietnam. This diversity of background will, I am sure, further help promote within IFT understanding between cultures and the sharing of knowledge and insights. Such things are already a trademark of life at the Institute.

We are also welcoming this semester a group of 33 exchange students from, respectively, Austria, Finland, Portugal, the Netherlands, the Republic of Korea, the United States, Zambia and Mainland China. I hope that those on exchange will be inspired by the teaching and the learning environment at IFT, and that – when it is time for them to go home – Macao and IFT will respectively have gained another group of enthusiastic ambassadors.

The tourism and hospitality sector is one of the fastest growing areas of economic activity in Macao and the Asia Pacific region, offering exciting job opportunities. We hope that an education at IFT will be the first step on a path to a successful career in the sector.

I urge our students – especially those freshly enrolled at the Institute – to make the most of the opportunities offered by IFT. The available courses and extracurricular activities seek to increase students’ competence in their field of study and assist in their personal development.

As a higher education institution, our role is not only to train high-quality professionals, but also to give students the best chance of shaping their future. Undergraduates should seize the opportunity to make their time at IFT a transformative experience so that they are equipped to succeed in their lives.

I would like especially to emphasise the importance of teamwork and community involvement, key themes of IFT’s educational vision. The success of our students – today and in the future – will depend on teamwork. This involves helping others, letting others help you and being surprised by how much more can be achieved by working as a team. When someone makes positive contributions to the community and society at large, they are not only helping others but also assisting in their own development as a person and as a professional.

We see our students as the leaders of tomorrow. As they enter IFT – and a new stage of their life – they should work hard to start making a difference in the world. Our students have a duty to help others, and to promote sustainable development and social responsibility. They should always remember: the biggest yardstick of success is how each person positively affects the life of others and society.