Tourism Management – BSc (Honours)

At a glance

Gain knowledge and insight across the breadth of the tourism sector, enabling you to choose the career path which interests you most. Learn from an experienced lecturing team with industry and research backgrounds and then apply what you’ve learnt with a placement at a major organisation like Hilton International or TUI Travel.

Key points
• Work with lecturers with significant industry and research experience.• The chance to gain a placement with a major international company such as Walt Disney World, Florida.
• Get student membership of professional bodies such as the Tourism Management Institute/Tourism Society.
• Learn a language as part of your course.

What is tourism management?
The tourism industry covers a whole range of businesses and organisations such as tour operators, cruise operations, accommodation providers and attractions. It serves holiday makers and business travellers, as well as day and educational visitors.

Managers within the tourism industry need to understand key management functions, for example marketing, human resources, operations management, finance and supply chain management.

This course

Gain a good understanding of the many areas in the tourism industry before making your career choice in the sector, on one of the highest ranking tourism management courses in the UK (Times University Guide 2012).

As a graduate you will be in a strong position to pursue a career in management in a wide range of tourism areas including airlines, tour operators and tourism media.

Year one modules give you core knowledge of topics such as the tourism industry, its markets and resources, and understanding tourist behaviour. You build on this knowledge in the second year, further developing your management skills and understanding of tourism.

In year three, you get the opportunity to put what you’ve learnt into practice with a paid work placement, in the UK or overseas. This is a great chance to improve your career prospects and can sometimes lead to an offer of employment after you graduate. Previous students have worked at companies such as • TUI Travel •Crowne Plaza, Hilton Head • Reef and Rainforest Tours, Devon • Walt Disney World Resort, Florida • Thomas Cook, based in international resorts.

In the final year, you investigate policy, planning and strategic management aspects of tourism. You can also investigate a topic of your choice through an independent project. As part of the course you get the opportunity to work on real projects to build your skills and professional experience, such as the Tourism Management Institute conference and customer satisfaction surveys for the Sheffield Museums Trust.

You learn from lecturers with extensive industry experience in areas such as airline management, destination management and travel industry management. Many are also involved the University’s respected Centre for Tourism, Hospitality and Events Research, researching topics such as pro-poor tourism and the economic impact of tourism.
If you take an international work placement or study abroad, you gain the international version of this award. You also have the opportunity to study abroad for up to a year as part of your course.

Key areas of study
The main themes include
• structure and dynamics of the tourism industry
• contemporary tourism markets and consumer trends
• management principles applied to tourism, including human resources, operations management and strategic management
• tourism sustainability and development

You can also study a foreign language – from beginner to advanced level.