IFTM is celebrating 25 years of providing high-quality tourism and hospitality education to people from Macao and further afield. To mark the occasion, the Institute is putting forward from September a series of special initiatives.
One highlight is the launch of a themed website celebrating the landmark anniversary. It features some of the stories, memories and key moments from IFTM’s first 25 years. The dual-language website – available at www2.ift.edu.mo/25th – includes messages from the Chair and Vice Chair respectively of the IFTM Council, Mr. Chan Chak Mo and Mr. Francis Lui Yiu Tung. It also features testimonials from a number of alumni, from IFTM partner institutions around the world, and from the Institute’s first President, Dr. Virgínia Trigo. There is additionally a special timeline feature and a gallery of photographs. Earlier this month, IFTM released a special video to mark its 25th anniversary. It focuses on the Institute’s ethos and achievements since 1995. The video is also available in the anniversary website.
Throughout September, IFTM is also making available a special online game, with a theme based on the Institute’s 25th anniversary. It is accessible on the social media platform WeChat.
Ensuring the 25th anniversary celebrations are appropriate for the conditions brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the anniversary’s roster of events includes 2 sets of online webinars, each in series format.
On 8 and 9 September, IFTM hosted the webinar series that is part of the programme of special events for the 25th anniversary. The series, “Improving Indoor Air Quality for Tourism in the New Normal Era”, featured academics and professionals from Greater China and Portugal. It covered a total of 3 sessions, in Cantonese, Mandarin, and English, respectively.
The other set of webinars, the “IFTM Heritage Management Alumni Online Career Talk Series”, starts on Saturday (12 September). It includes a total of 4 sessions, spread across a period running until 3 October inclusive. The initiative, by a group of IFTM alumni, aims to help current students and fresh graduates from the Heritage Management Bachelor Degree Programme learn more about the various career paths available to them, and the relevant skills required for each route. The webinar series features 9 alumni – employed variously in fields ranging from cultural heritage management to museum work, underwater archaeology and higher education – in either the private or public sector. Some of the alumni are based in Macao, while others are based respectively in Mainland China, India and the United States. Interested parties can register for the webinars in IFTM website (https://www.iftm.edu.mo/event).
IFTM upholds the values of innovation and continuous improvement to promote academic development in tourism-related fields, and collaborates closely with the industry to nurture talented professionals.