IFT Macau cements leadership position

Posted: Mon 15 Mar, 2010 12:00 AM

The Institute for Tourism Studies in Macau SAR has cemented its position as a leader of heritage management education by providing specialised UNESCO World Heritage training to curriculum developers, managers and trainers of Mount Lushan World Heritage Office. IFT staged a three-day workshop designed to ‘build the capacity of heritage professionals from the Administrative Bureau of Mount Lushan Scenic and Historic Spots’. Mount Lushan sits some 36 kilometres south of Jiujiang City in Jiangxi Province, China (PRC).

Appointed the Knowledge Management Hub of the Asian Academy of Heritage Management (AAHM) by UNESCO and ICCROM in 2009, IFT is committed to the development of heritage management education in Asia.

IFT states: ‘In a timely response to concerns of high-impact tourism at World Heritage sites in Asia, AAHM launched the Cultural Heritage Specialist Guides Programme in 2005.  This rigorous, practical and internationally-recognised training and certification programme is being implemented through active partnerships between members of AAHM, training institutions from the UNESCAP Asia Pacific Education and Training Institutes in Tourism (APETIT) network and National Tourism Organisations (NTOs), with the Institute for Tourism Studies serving as the Knowledge Management Hub and UNESCO providing technical advisory’.

More details: www.ift.edu.mo

Photo caption: Dr. Fanny Vong, President of IFT (third from right) and Huang Tao, Deputy Director of the World Heritage Office, The Administration Bureau of Mt. Lushan Scenic Spot (left of Dr. Vong) pictured with some of the workshop facilitators and participants.