The Global Center for Tourism Education established by the Institute for Tourism Studies (IFT) based in Macao, People’s Republic of China and UNWTO signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in 2015 to enhance the quality of human capital and increase the competitiveness of tourism destinations in the Asia/Pacific Region and Portuguese-speaking countries aiming to achieve sustainable tourism development in the long run.

In this regard, the Institute for Tourism Studies offered the 6th training session entitled: “Capacity Building on Destination Marketing and Tourism Product Development” late last year for lusophone countries i.e. Angola, Cabo Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Sao Tomé and Principe and Timor Leste, and Cambodia. The training course took place within the facilities of IFT over eight days during the last quarter of 2018.

The eight-day training course aimed at equipping officials and professionals of the selected countries with capacity, knowledge and skills on current trends in Tourism Marketing, and especially on Tourism Product Development. Besides following the intensive theoretical course, participants were asked to take part in a technical field visit so as to apply the methodology and knowledge they had gained during the classes throughout the week.