The Education Division of the Taipei-Moscow Economic and Cultural Coordination Commission (ED TMECCC) Speaks at the Education in Tourism: Theory and Practice Conference at Russian State University for the Humanities
William Lu, Secretary of the Education Division of TMECCC, was invited to be one of the six speakers at an international conference on Education in Tourism: Theory and Practice, held at the Russian State University for the Humanities (RSUH) on March 13, 2019. The conference was chaired by Alexander Logunov, Chair of the Department of History, Politics and Law, and the attendees from related industries and institutions included: Roman Skoriy, President of the National Tourist Union; Thomas Wilken, Director of Operations at the Moscow Marriott Hotel Novy Arbat; Nelly Kuleshova, Learning & Quality Assurance Manager of Four Seasons Hotel Moscow; and Andrey Yatsenko, Co-president of the National Committee on Russian Ecological Security. An estimated 100 people participated.
The conference covered many key subjects, including education for the tourism industry; tourism as an educational project in the 21st century; innovative methods of training people for the tourism industry, and national policies regarding developing tourism in the Russian Federation for children and young people.
William Lu began his address by saying that tourism is often referred to as “an industry without pollution”. This makes it an industry sector worthy of serious attention when it comes to economic development, and he urged the tourism-related industries, companies, and institutions to provide more internship opportunities for students.
He then mentioned Taiwan’s allowing visa-free access from 6 September, 2018 till 31 July this year, and the new direct flights available to Taipei from Moscow and Vladivostok, and he encouraged more Russian people to visit Taiwan. The number of Taiwanese tourists visiting Russia has grown rapidly in the past 3 years; it has more than tripled, from 3,522 in 2015 to 10,859 in 2017. A number of Taiwanese hotels, travel agencies and restaurants have become regular participants of the Moscow International Travel & Tourism Exhibition (MITT) because they anticipate booming numbers of Russian tourists will visit Taiwan.
William then focused on tourism and education, expressing his hope for more and closer cooperation between Russia and Taiwan combining Mandarin Chinese learning and tourism and hospitality, given that studying Mandarin Chinese has become a popular trend there. Many Chinese language centers affiliated with universities in Taiwan and the tourism industry have created innovative tours that combine experiencing local culture with some language learning, and overseas visitors can enjoy a trip to Taiwan that’s more than just sightseeing. He also mentioned some related on-going cooperative education projects, including a language exchange program which sends 30–40 Russian students to study Mandarin Chinese in Taiwan each year.
The Russian State University for the Humanities is one of Russia’s key universities focusing on humanitarian research, and it is one of the 39 participants in the national Develop Export Potential of Russian Educational System project. It has more than 30,000 students and 1,900 academic staff. It was established in 1991, as the result of the merger between Moscow Public University (which was founded in 1908 through an initiative of Alfons Shanyavsky) and the Moscow State Institute for History and Archives (founded in 1930). The university’s motto is “Centuries-old Tradition, Contemporary Technology”. It has signed over 240 cooperation agreements with leading foreign universities and research institutions, and more than 700 foreign students study or do an internship at RSUH each year. It looks forward to further cooperation with Taiwan.
Photo from left: Dr. Olga Pavlenko, Vice-Rector for Scientific Affairs; Prof. Alexander Logunov, Chair of the Department of History, Politics and Law; Dr. Vera Zabotkina, Vice-Rector for International Cooperation; Associate Prof. Svetlana Gorelova, from the Contemporary Tourism and Hospitality Division; Roman Skoriy, President of the National Tourism Union; and William Lu, Secretary of the Education Division of TMECCC, at the international conference on Education in Tourism: Theory and Practice, at the Russian State University for the Humanities.