The Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) hosted this year’s 5th annual Tourism Education Student Summit event (TEd Summit-2020) virtually on 27 May. This full-day event is an opportunity for IFTM’s top 44 graduating BSc students to share their research findings with industry leaders and the community at large.
This unique event is an opportunity for some of the Institute’s brightest stars to engage with industry in a discussion about the future development of tourism and hospitality within Macao and the Greater Bay Area. IFTM views the training of young researchers, as a strategic feature of its programmes. The skills required in the research process – critical thinking, problem identification and solution, analysis and deduction, etc. endow new graduates with capacity for managing future unknowns.
It is through events such as TEd Summit-2020 that strategic stakeholders can preview the next generation of future hospitality and tourism leaders, who have their finger on the pulse of the current state of affairs within the Macao tourism industry.
This year’s TEd Summit welcomed Professor Sara Dolnicar, from the Tourism Department at UQ Business School (The University of Queensland, Australia) who delivered an inspirational keynote address on the environmental cost of the tourism industry and discussed how tourism businesses can make small changes to reduce the environmental footprint of their operations. For the industry keynote, the Summit was delighted by the participation of Mr. Grant Bowie, Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of MGM China Holdings Limited who shared valuable reflections informed by a lifelong career in the industry and provided insightful predictions for its future development.
Among all the papers presented by IFTM students, the Best Paper Scholarships were awarded to eight future tourism & hospitality leaders from IFTM. The best paper awardees are: Yuan Hanfang, Jiang Xinyi, Lei Peng Ieng, Lei San Lam, Chen Kun, Hoi Weng Ian, Lo Chak Kuan and Leong Lai Teng.