The Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM), which launched a Master's program in digital marketing and analytics this academic year, is ready to incorporate more technological elements into its existing programs, such as those on hospitality and tourism management, IFTM president Fanny Vong assured yesterday. She also mentioned the institute that offers a Master's degree in smart technology. This academic year, the institute welcomed 600 new students across all degree levels, the most in its history. Vong revealed that the most popular programs are in hotel management and culinary management, while those in cultural heritage management are particularly popular with mainland students. She mentioned that IFTM is seeing more competition from universities all over the world. She feels that with the restoration of normalcy post-Covid, more students are contemplating studying outside of Macau. "I think Macau students have always had the advantage of having a lot of options when it comes to going for further studies," Vong noted. "In the past, we had always seen students who were eager to try new things." It was also announced yesterday that over the summer vacation, several facilities of the IFTM's Taipa Campus were renovated.
The IFTM and the official TOEFL and TOEIC representative office in Hong Kong also held a signing ceremony. The deal is for the institute's third test center in Macau for the US English literacy exam TOEFL. Both parties have observed an increase in demand for seats in the exam, particularly since normalcy has been restored. TOEFL is required for entrance to many higher education institutions worldwide. As a result, students from the IFTM and other schools in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) will be able to take advantage of the extra seats at the new test locations. Vong emphasized that the test has a centralized registration system, which means that all test-takers, regardless of origin, would be able to take it in Macau. On the sidelines of the signing ceremony, Kevin Chan, official TOEFL & TOEIC agent in Hong Kong & Macau and president of Smart Education, stated that he hopes the new test center to draw talents from across the GBA to Macau to take the exam. As a result, the new test facility will assist the city's other industries. According to Chan, there is a lot of rivalry for test seats in Hong Kong, making it difficult for people from Macau to register to take the exam there. People from Macau could only take the test outside of Macau – the closest place being Hong Kong – if they needed to relocate. To cope with the new test center, preparatory courses for TOEFL have also begun to better train test-takers, Vong added. She is also confident in the teaching quality of IFTM’s faculty in these courses.
