Students from the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) Tourism Retail and Marketing Management programme recently took on an industrial project that aimed to support rural revitalisation of Chakeng village in Jiangmen, according to an IFTM statement on Saturday.
Jiangmen lies some 65 kilometres northwest of Macau.
The statement noted that the project included site visits to Jiangmen’s Chakeng and Chenpi villages, with students analysing the locations and comparing Chakeng to successful rural revitalisation initiatives from around the world after the visit.
The student teams then developed product concepts focusing on “the renowned and nationally recognised top-quality tangerine peel (chenpi)”, as well as conceived rural tourism strategies that showcased the village’s distinctive elements, according to the statement.
Chenpi is sun-dried tangerine orange peel used as a traditional seasoning in Chinese cooking and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Three-dimensional design and visual aids were used to illustrate their ideas, the statement said, adding that the project’s outcome was “a collection of ideas for product diversification, mainly focusing on utilising the village’s tangerine peel and proposed improvements to the local tourism offerings to attract more frequent visitors”.
IFTM Assistant Prof. Fernando Lourenço guided students in the project, which was a collaboration supported by the Guangdong Youth Federation, Macao Youth Federation, Macau-Guangdong Youth Exchange Promotion Association and Macao Foundation.
Students participated as members of the “Beautiful Village Planning and Construction” Youth Service Team launched by the Guangdong Youth Federation, according to the statement, which added that the project enabled students to channel their acquired knowledge in marketing and branding into real-world applications.
This undated handout photo recently provided by the Macao Institute for Tourism Studies (IFTM) shows a student delivering a presentation about the project in Jiangmen.
