Welcome to your Business Management (Tourism) course

You will be taught through a combination of lectures, seminars and workshops. Seminars enable you to discuss and develop your understanding of topics covered in lectures in smaller groups. In addition, you will have meetings with an academic mentor at least twice a year.

The course will provide you with opportunities to engage with formative modules and engagement activities to help us to gauge your understanding of your subject informally before you complete the formal assessments.

There is a formal or ‘summative’ assessment at the end of each module. This includes a range of coursework assessments, practical portfolio work, development logbooks, written reports, presentations, and independent supervised projects. The grades from formal assessments count towards your module mark, and ultimately to your degree classification.

You’ll often be given independent learning tasks (homework) that are designed to consolidate your learning and give you opportunities to complete tutorials or practice what you’ve learnt from your scheduled sessions. This is what we refer to as self-managed study time. Assignments are broken up into milestones throughout the semesters.

In terms of practical elements during the course you will critically reflect upon the experience of visitors and relate this to relevant academic theories in the areas of the visitor motivation, visitor behaviour, expectation/perception, and the experience economy.

You will undertake tasks such as developing a travel itinerary that considers various tourism markets with regard to supply and demand.

In the final year you will take part in a consultancy module whereby you will develop collaborative management project with an organisation of your choice to identify an area of research beneficial to both you and the organisation. You will be involved in real-time problem solving, develop a set of recommendations based on your research findings and present those findings to the organisation. By collaborating with tourism professionals, you’ll gain valuable skills to help you develop your career.

The university provides academic resources such as libraries, writing centres, tutoring services, and study groups. Get to know what is available to you and take advantage of these resources to enhance your learning experience.

Reference texts to familiarise yourself with:

• Fletcher, J., Fyall, A., Gilbert, D. and Wanhill, S. (2017). Tourism Principles and Practice. 6th edn. Harlow: Pearson Education Ltd.
• Holloway, C. J. and Humphreys, C. (2016) The Business of Tourism 10th edn. Harlow: Pearson Education Limited.
• Page, S. and Connel, J. (2020) Tourism a Modern Synthesis. 5th edn. Oxon: Routledge.
• Page, S.J. (2009). Tourism Management. Managing for Change. 3rd edn. Oxford: Butterworth Heinemann, Elsevier. 

On the foundation year you will cover modules such as: business performance, communication in the digital age, external business environments and managing for people and profit. You will also undertake a business simulation project.

This year will act as a steppingstone and will provide you confidence by strengthening your academic background. Beyond subject-specific knowledge, the foundation year will emphasise the development of transferable skills such as critical thinking, research, and communication, which are valuable in any academic or professional setting moving forward.

The university provides academic resources such as libraries, writing centres, tutoring services, and study groups. Get to know what is available to you and take advantage of these resources to enhance your learning experience.

Reference texts to familiarise yourself with:

• Porter, M (2004) Competitive Advantage : creating and sustaining superior performance. New York: Free Press
• McDonald, M & Meldrum, M (2013) The Complete Marketer. London: Kogan Page
• Paul, D. et al. (2020) Business Analysis. 4th edn. Swindon: BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT