Macao University of Tourism (UTM), established in 1995, is a public institution of higher education in Macao that offers degree programmes and professional training in tourism and hospitality, and is under the supervision of the Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture of the Macao SAR Government. UTM offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, as well as professional training in a wide range of tourism-related disciplines such as hospitality, tourism business, heritage, events, retail and marketing, leisure and entertainment, sports and recreation, creative and cultural studies, and culinary arts. UTM also delivers various programmes at the executive level in partnership with leading tourism schools in the world. The university is entrusted by the local authorities to conduct policy level research related to tourism planning and development.
The mission of UTM is to become a leading higher education institution in tourism and service industry studies that equips 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 university has the following three characteristics:
- Unique Identity - The university operates independently, specialising in providing higher education and professional training in tourism and service industry management.
- Integration - It blends the best approaches of academic development and professional training.
- Internationalisation - It seeks mutually beneficial cooperation with similar institutions abroad, actively promoting international learning experience among faculty and students.
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 UTM as the “training the trainer centre” offering training and advisory services for APETIT members in the Asia Pacific region. In the same year, UTM received from the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) the Gold Award, which acknowledged the content and the quality of UTM’s programmes. In 2002, UTM was presented, again, with the same award for having set up the “Macao Occupational Skills Recognition System” (MORS) for the local tourism and service industry, in collaboration with the European Union (EU).
In 2000, UTM was the first United Nations World Tourism Organization UNWTO.TedQual institution in tourism education. This confirmed the international standard and quality achieved by UTM in education and training.
In 2003, UTM 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 the 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 2008, UTM was awarded the Medal of Merit for Tourism by the Macao SAR Government in recognition of its significant contributions in advancing local tourism development.
Since the launch of the QS World University Rankings in the subject area of Hospitality and Leisure Management in 2017, UTM has been highly ranked internationally.
In 2017, UTM became the world’s first higher education institution to pass International Quality Review(IQR) from UK’s Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education(QAA).
UTM received PATA Gold Award four times in 1997, 2002, 2020 and 2022 affirming the content and quality of the UTM’s programmes.
UTM always 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.