Diversification of tourism driving demand for qualified workforce

Gaming revenues may be declining in the territory but the emergence of non-gaming elements, primarily with the development of the Cotai projects of the sector operators, will continue to increase the demand for qualified workers in the sector, according to the President of the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT). Fanny Vong. “Now, gaming revenue is going down but we are hopeful that the other areas related to the non-gaming elements, such as food and beverage, recreation and leisure activities, which the operators are trying to add to the resorts will increase the workforce required to fill the properties”, Dr. Fanny Vong said to journalists on the sidelines of the IFT 2015/2016 Student Orientation Ceremony that took place in Macau Tower. In May, the opening of the resort Galaxy Macau Phase II and Broadway kicked off the second wave of casino openings in Cotai. The next project to open is Melco Crown’s Studio City with the Grand Opening ceremony of the resort slated for October 27. Following that, Wynn, MGM, SJM and Sands will also launch individual projects up to 2017. This expansion of the tourism industry creates optimism in IFT concerning its students’ future prospects. “We’re looking at the development in Cotai. Although gaming is slowing down, there are still a few projects that will be coming up and will require human resources not only in quantity but also in quality. The operators will need people to fill their properties because thousands of new rooms will be added to the Cotai Strip. We are quite optimistic that our graduates will be able to get some of those positions”, the President of IFT explained. Expanding plans For the new academic year IFT will receive 374 new students, which will put the number of undergraduates of the institute at around 1,600 for 2015/2016. However, this number may increase in the future as the IFT has been authorised to occupy the East Asia Hall building used by the University of Macau before this institution moved to its Hengqin Campus. “Ultimately, with this building we will have the conditions to expand the number of student intake. We have a few programmes that are quite popular and are always oversubscribed”, she said. However, the use of the new building is still being considered, besides some nine to ten floors, which will be used as a hotel for the students to occupy. “The building was just handed over to us in the beginning of August. We will start to do some renovation work this month to convert some floors into their original use. However, other floors will be used as offices, classrooms, student activity centres and recreation areas but we still need to plan. As such, I’m not sure when they will be ready, maybe next year”, she said. This year, IFT is celebrating its 20th anniversary and the ceremony yesterday also included the presentation of scholarships, dean’s list and extra-curricular activities awards for students.