2013/2014 KAN-SOC_VFST Managerial Perspectives on Sustainable Tourism: Theory and Practice

English Title
Managerial Perspectives on Sustainable Tourism: Theory and Practice

Course information
Language	English
Exam ECTS	7.5 ECTS
Type	Elective
Level	Full Degree Master
Duration	One Quarter
Course period	Spring, Fourth Quarter
Time Table	Please see course schedule at e-Campus
Max. participants	45
Study board	Study Board for MSc of Social Science
Course coordinator
Adriana Budeanu - Department of International Economics and Management (INT)
Main academic disciplines
Business Ethics, value based management and CSR Management
Last updated on 15-02-2013

Learning objectives

After a successful completion of the course, the students will be able:

To define and discuss key concepts in sustainable tourism.
To summarize, discuss and compare readings of the course.
To evaluate and discuss the relevance of conventional and alternative forms of tourism for sustainable development
To identify and apply theoretical knowledge from the course literature to the analysis of tourism operations, in order to account for concrete manifestations of sustainable tourism.
To demonstrate knowledge and critical understanding of the models, concepts and theories presented throughout the course.

Course prerequisites

Students must have knowledge of management and corporate strategy, or the like.

Examination

Written assignment produced at home:
Examination form	Home assignment - written product
Individual or group exam	Individual
Size of written product	Max. 10 pages
Assignment type	Written assignment
Duration	72 hours to prepare
Grading scale	7-step scale
Examiner(s)	Internal examiner and second internal examiner
Exam period	May/June
Make-up exam/re-exam	Same examination form as the ordinary exam Re-take examinations have the same requirements as regular exams and are based on a 72-hours individual home assignment (a written product of maximum 10 pages).
Description of the exam procedure The 20 minute oral exam takes its point of departure in the project and relates to theory and models from the course literature. The student is responsible for knowing the entire syllabus. The individual assessment is based on a combined evaluation of the written group project and the individual oral exam. The project should be: • 1 student: max.10 standard pages • 2-3 students: max.15 standard pages The 20 minute oral exam takes its point of departure in the project and relates to theory and models from the course literature. The student is responsible for knowing the entire syllabus. The individual assessment is based on a combined evaluation of the written group project and the individual oral exam.The final exam is an oral exam based on a 72-hour project. The project should be: • 1 student: max.10 standard pages • 2-3 students: max.15 standard pages The 20 minute oral exam takes its point of departure in the project and relates to theory and models from the course literature. The student is responsible for knowing the entire syllabus. The individual assessment is based on a combined evaluation of the written group project and the individual oral exam.The final exam is an oral exam based on a 72-hour project. The project should be: • 1 student: max.10 standard pages • 2-3 students: max.15 standard pages The 20 minute oral exam takes its point of departure in the project and relates to theory and models from the course literature. The student is responsible for knowing the entire syllabus. The individual assessment is based on a combined evaluation of the written group project and the individual oral exam.

Course content and structure

The transformation of travelling from an ‘exclusive’ to an ‘accessible’ activity, available to and affordable by a large number of people has led to tourism becoming one of the most remarkable phenomena that define contemporary times. While the rapid developments have benefited many stakeholders, the fragile balance required by a sustainable tourism development is often at risk from conflicting goals of conservation versus development plans for tourism. The ambivalent relation of tourism with the global culture and economy, projected on its future growth, call for a careful and responsible development of tourism, within the context of sustainable development. This course provides an introduction to the complex study of sustainable developments in tourism. The purpose of this course is to train students to identify and critically examine the challenges related to sustainable development as applied to the management of tourism operations. In doing so, the course builds upon the links with other areas of study in the Service Management master program. Using a combination of theoretical knowledge and real-life examples, the course discusses strategies and policies that are used by tourism stakeholders to reduce negative impacts and play a more responsible role in the society. In particular, the course focuses on three main areas of study: governance for sustainable development in tourism destinations, environmental and social management in tourism supply chains and corporate sustainable strategies. The course’s development of personal competences: Through its learning activities and assessment, the course is designed to:

• Provide students with theoretical and research knowledge about the sustainable development of tourism through class activities, group and individual study;

• Train students’ communication skills by engaging them in oral and written presentations;

• Strengthen students’ problem solving skills by applying theoretical knowledge to specific tourism problems;

• Develop students’ understanding of the relevance of sustainable development for domestic and international tourism.

The transformation of travelling from an ‘exclusive’ to an ‘ accessible’ activity, available to and affordable by a large number of people has led to tourism becoming one of the most remarkable phenomena that define contemporary times. While the rapid developments have benefited many stakeholders, the fragile balance required by sustainable tourism development is often at risk from conflicting goals of conservation versus tourism development plans. The ambivalent relation of tourism with the global culture and economy, projected on its future growth, call for a careful and responsible development of tourism, within the context of sustainable development.

This course provides an introduction to the complex study of sustainable development in tourism. The purpose of this course is to train students to identify and critically examine the challenges related to sustainable development as applied to the management of tourism operations. In doing so, the course builds upon the links with other areas of study in the Service Management master program. Using a combination of theoretical knowledge and real-life examples, the course discusses strategies and policies that are used by tourism stakeholders to reduce negative impacts and play a more responsible role in the society. In particular, the course focuses on three main areas of study:
Through its learning activities and assessment, the course is designed to:
Provide students with theoretical and research knowledge about the sustainable development of tourism through class activities, group work and individual study

Strengthen students’ communication skills by engaging them in oral and written presentations

Strengthen students’ problem solving skills by applying theoretical knowledge to specific tourism problems

Develop students’ understanding of the relevance of sustainable development for domestic and international tourism

Teaching methods

The teaching is based on lectures giving overview of the theory, individual study and group work, guest lecturers from the industry, and student presentations and discussant’s critique supervised by faculty. It is expected that students prepare before classes by reading relevant articles and chapters as suggested in the reading schedule (on LEARN).

Student workload

Classes	33 hours
Preparation for classes	110 hours
Preparation for exam and examination	85 hours

Further Information

The course may include material developed during the European project STITCH. More information about the project can be found at: http://www.stitch-project.eu/

Expected literature

A collection of academic resources (references below are only an indicative sample of the course literature; the complete list will be announced on LEARN):

Buckley, R. (2012) Sustainable tourism: Research and reality. Annals of Tourism Research, 39(2): 528–546.

European Commission (2007) Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism, European Commission, Brussels.

Goodwin, H., (2011) Taking Responsibility for Tourism. Goodfellow Publishers Ltd.: Oxford.

Middleton, V.T.C. & Hawkins, R. (2002), Sustainable Tourism: A Marketing Perspective, 1st ed., Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

UNEP (2005) Making tourism more sustainable - A Guide for Policy Makers. ISBN: 92-807-2507-6.