Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) launched in early February a series of postgraduate courses in collaboration with the UNWTO Academy. The Institute is the first higher education institution in Asia to collaborate with the UNWTO Academy – the education arm of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) – to offer tourism-focused courses within its postgraduate programmes.
The courses offered include: “Destination and Attractions Management”, “Trends and Issues in Tourism and Leisure”, and “Sustainable Tourism Planning and Development”. They are jointly delivered by IFTM faculty and UNWTO experts.
Besides offering the IFTM-UNWTO collaborative courses to students enrolled either on selected IFTM Master’s degree or PgD programmes, IFTM welcomes the general public, especially professionals linked to tourism and hospitality, to take part. By doing so, they can make use of the opportunity to advance their knowledge and obtain prestigious recognition.
After completion of the courses, participants should be able to identify and evaluate trends and contemporary issues in tourism and hospitality. By taking part in the courses, they can look forward to enhancing their analytical and critical thinking, problem-solving ability and communication skills, for application in their field of work.
All participants who have successfully completed any of the 3 courses will be entitled to apply for the joint certificate(s) by IFTM and the UNWTO Academy. Such certificates are anticipated to get high recognition within the industry.
Public participants who have finished any of the IFTM-UNWTO courses can apply for credit exemption regarding the Institute’s relevant postgraduate programmes.
In 2000, IFTM became the first institution in tourism education to have any of its programmes certified under the UNWTO.TedQual Certification System. The Institute currently has the greatest number of UNWTO.TedQual-certified bachelor degree programmes of any institution in the world: 8, including 2 evening bachelor degree programmes.
The UNWTO.TedQual Certification System – under the UNWTO Academy – measures the efficiency of academic systems as well as the extent to which the needs of the tourism industry and students are incorporated into each tourism education programme.