UP AIT Visits Universiti Teknologi MARA and Taylor’s University Malaysia
The UP Asian Institute of Tourism visited two top universities in Malaysia, Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and Taylor’s University for academic and research collaborations and undergraduate and graduate student exchange programs.
UP AIT and UiTM inked a 3-year Memorandum of Understanding that formalizes several academic exchange and collaboration opportunities for the faculty, researchers, and students from both universities in the pipeline. The UP AIT delegation was warmly welcomed by the management committee of the Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management (FHTM) and its faculty members and students.
Three UP AIT faculty members who delivered special lectures to the UiTM students. Dr. Gina Alcoriza delivered a lecture on Events Management as practiced in the Philippines. Dr. Maricel Badilla discussed Service Quality Management through Smart Technologies and Data Science. Dr. Edieser Dela Santa shared about the UN Tourism International Network of Sustainable Tourism Observatories (INSTO) Framework as experienced in the Batanes Islands, Philippines as a research methodology.
In a Knowledge Sharing session, Dean Giovanni Francis Legaspi shared about the Philippine tourism portfolio. Dr. Datin Arni Abdul Gani shared the strategic directions of the Visit Malaysia program. The UP AIT visit to UiTM is the official launch of more academic and research collaboration programs between the two Universities.
The UP AIT delegation also visited the School of Hospitality, Tourism, and Events (SHTE) at the Taylor’s University Lakeside Campus for an exploratory meeting on academic and research partnerships. Under Dr. Kandappan’s leadership, the delegation was warmly welcomed by the faculty and students. The delegation discussed opportunities for student exchange and research partnerships, including establishing a UN Tourism INSTO observatory in Malaysia.
With a population of 6,000 students, the Faculty of Hotel and Tourism Management (FHTM) – UiTM offers all levels of higher education programs (Diploma, Bachelor’s degree, Masters, PhD) from its main campus in Bandar Puncak Alam, Selangor, and its 5 branch campuses.
The School of Hospitality, Tourism, and Events (SHTE) of Taylor’s University is ranked 26th in the QS World Rankings and 1st in QS Southeast Asia Rankings in Hospitality and Leisure Management. Like UP AIT, Taylor’s University is the first and only in Malaysia with UN TedQual-certified programs.



