Postgraduate Training

MA/PG Diploma Tourism and Sustainability

Introduction

Tourism studies encompasses the significance of tourism to hosts and guests, the structure and operational context of the industry that serves the needs of those who participate in it (one of the world’s biggest), the expression of tourism development over space and time in a variety of contexts (namely spa/coastal, urban, rural/wilderness and alpine), the positive and negative impacts of such development upon the environments and communities of destination regions, and the means by which tourism can be managed so as to make more sustainable use of the physical and human resources implicated in its production and consumption. The inter-disciplinary and inter-professional nature of tourism is a challenge to the academic and practitioner alike: all these inter-related aspects must be understood for effective planning and policymaking for tourism and for the management of tourism’s environmental, socio-cultural and economic impacts.

Truly reconciling the needs of tourists, the tourism industry, destinations and local communities may be an elusive goal, but there are many ways towards more sustainable tourism. This course addresses tourism’s potential to achieve a range of policy objectives (including urban and rural regeneration, wildlife conservation and conserving the built and cultural heritage) within the context of programmes for sustainable development. In doing so, it seeks to provide students with the skills and techniques to develop tourism policies and to manage tourism development and enterprises, towards more sustainable practice.

The central issues that the course addresses are:

the interpretations of sustainable development as a current discourse, and the influence of the sustainability discourse on policies for the planning and management of tourism and the resources on which tourism depends;

the nature of the tourism industry and its role in the world economy;

tourism’s impacts on the natural, social, political, economic, built and cultural environments, and the industry’s response to the sustainable discourse;

the theory and practice of tourism policy and management and the outcomes of different policy and management approaches;

research approaches to the analysis and study of all these issues.

Course structure

The course is based in the Faculty of the Built Environment and delivered in close collaboration with colleagues in the Bristol Business School and the Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences. It is modular in form, allowing students to achieve sufficient credit for a Master of Arts qualification in 12 months (full-time) or 28 months (part-time). Requirements for the interim awards of PG Cert and PG Dip, and the target award of MA, are as follows:

Postgraduate Certificate – This comprises 60 credits of the taught programme, which must include Research Frameworks and, normally, one of the two 20-credit tourism modules (see below).

Postgraduate Diploma – This comprises all 120 credits of the taught programme.

Masters – As PG Dip, plus a dissertation (180 credits in all).

Module content

International Tourism Development (20 credits) – This module analyses the significance of international tourism to the populations of generating and receiving countries, the markets and structures of the different sectors involved in the supply of international travel and tourism services (including the increasing role of multinational companies), the respective responsibilities of national governments, indigenous peoples and non-governmental organisations in promoting tourism development, and the characteristics of such development that are taken to denote ‘sustainable’ or ‘unsustainable’ practice.

Sustainable Tourism: Principles and Practice (20 credits) – This module raises philosophical questions concerning the concept of sustainability and its applicability to tourism. A critical analysis of the range of approaches to sustainable development at the beginning of the module will provide students with a context for the study of tourism policy, planning and management in this and other modules.

Tourism in the Natural Environment (10 credits) – This module is concerned with the nature of tourism’s impacts on the natural environment at a global level and, more specifically, within particular ecosystems (e.g. marine, rainforest, mountain, etc). Case studies are presented to demonstrate the range of environmental management techniques that are available and their relative effectiveness, cost, political acceptability and ease of implementation.

Research Frameworks (10 credits) – This module explores four, sometimes overlapping, debates in social science and assesses their applicability to built environment research: the debate about the nature of knowledge within a field, and the reasons for divergent understandings; the debate about research as a process for contributing to knowledge; the debate about values and their impact on the research process and research outcomes; and the debate about the practical value of research and the impact of research on policy and practice. It also aims to raise awareness of the ethical issues that are likely to be faced in the conduct and reporting of research.

Tourism in Local Economic Development (15 credits) – This module seeks to evaluate the economic impacts of tourism and its development potential for local economies. Students use appropriate research techniques for the assessment of the economic impacts of tourism in a local economy (e.g. multiplier effects and spending leakages, tourism employment, etc). The module also investigates how the public sector can facilitate and manage a more sustainable role for tourism in local economic development.

Tourism Destination Marketing Applications (15 credits) – This module is designed to provide students with an understanding of the implications of the sustainability agenda for marketing resorts, historic towns and rural areas, in the context of government policies for tourism destinations. It will consider how the theory of marketing and associated techniques are mediated in a tourism destination context and will draw on the group experience of students in a given field location.

Visitor Management and Interpretation (10 credits) – Many aspects of our cultural heritage rely on visitors, wholly or partly, for their economic survival. This module assesses the impact of visitors on heritage attractions and analyses the significance of interpretation for both the visitor experience and for site management. The module also assesses the contribution of interpretation and visitor education to sustainable tourism.

Ecotourism (10 credits) – Ecotourism has been promoted as a form of sustainable tourism, yet there is considerable debate as to its precise definition. This module addresses that debate and analyses the demand for nature-based tourism, ecotourism businesses, operator accreditation schemes and the potential of ecotourism to fulfil wildlife conservation and community development policy goals in theory and practice.

Research Conduct (10 credits) – This module is essentially concerned with the ‘planning’ stage of the research process, when major decisions are taken about research design, and is particularly appropriate for students who are considering developing a research proposal for a dissertation. Three key themes are explored: the formulation of an appropriate research question and the nature and purpose of literature reviews; types of research strategy available to researchers and criteria for selection; and qualitative and quantitative methods of data generation and analysis.

Teaching, learning and assessment methods

The tourism-specific modules on the course are structured around a series of keynote lectures, supported by a wide range of case study material and interspersed with student-led discussions. Learning also takes place in the field and on-line. The research modules (one dealing with research perspectives and paradigms, the other with research methods) require attendance at three, one-day workshops per semester. Methods of assessment vary between modules and include essays, reports and oral presentations.

Entry requirements

The standard entry requirement is an honours degree or an equivalent qualification. We will look positively at applications from potential students who hold or have held a relevant professional or managerial post. Exceptionally, students without an honours degree may be admitted where they can prove satisfactory prior experience and learning.

The Bristol Group for Tourism Research (BGTR)

Students will benefit from the existence of UWE’s inter-faculty Bristol Group for Tourism Research, a forum for university staff and research students specialising in tourism that seeks to support and develop high quality research and postgraduate training in the subject area (the course, itself, began as a BGTR initiative in September 1999). The research interests of BGTR staff encompass changing spatial patterns of tourism at the coast and their causes, international retirement migration in Europe, marine ecotourism, sustainable tourism indicators, the informal sector in tourism, the historical geography of the Western United States and related heritage management issues, and social science perspectives on tourism research. Each academic year, BGTR organises a seminar series in which various external and internal speakers share their latest research findings, to which all students are invited. Prospective students and alumni are also welcome. Further details on the membership and work of BGTR may be found at www.tourism-research.org.

Further information

Dr Tim Gale (Programme Leader) ( 0117 328 2525 7 0117 328 3002 : Tim.Gale@uwe.ac.uk

Or the Faculty Programmes Office (Faculty of the Built Environment)
Tel 0117 328 3000 (24 hour answerphone)
Fax 0117 328 3002

Or write to :

Award Leader, MA in Tourism & Sustainability
Faculty of the Built Environment
University of the West of England
Frenchay Campus
Bristol BS16 1QY

BGTR also offers a range of short courses for those who wish to update their professional skills and knowledge.

For further information on postgraduate training, please contact Tim Gale, Faculty of the Built Environment, University of the West of England, Frenchay Campus, Coldharbour Lane, Bristol BS16 1QY. Tel 0117 328 2525.