Tourism and International Development
MSc PGCert PGDip (PGCert PGDip)
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Course summary and entry requirements
Course duration
Full-time: 1 year
Part-time: 2-6 years
About the course
The links between tourism and sustainable development are clear. International organisations, such as the World Bank, the UN World Tourism Organisation, the European Union, and national/regional bodies, like national ministries and regional development agencies see tourism as an important tool for economic diversification and regeneration, poverty reduction and socio-economic integration.
Aligning with the UN WTO three-fold mission focusing on: tourism and sustainable development; sustainable destination management; and tourism and climate change our MSc in Tourism and International Development focuses on the role of tourism as an agent in development and as a vehicle to sustainable change both at macro and micro level.
The programme is delivered through the Centre for Tourism Policy Studies (CENTOPS), an accredited member of the UN World Tourism Organisation.
Typical entry requirements
The entry requirements listed here are for students starting their course in 2013. Individual offers may vary
For non-native speakers of English:
IELTS 6.5 overall and 6 in writing.Degree and/or experience:
Honours degree with a minimum 2:2 equivalent from a NARIC-recognised institution, or an HND equivalent plus at least 5 years of relevant industry experience. Other applicants with extensive industry experience will be considered on an individual basis.For equivalent international qualifications
We can help you meet our English language entry requirements
For help meeting English language requirements contact our
Language Institute.We can help you meet our academic entry requirements
For help meeting academic entry requirements contact our
International College.If you cannot find your country listed, please email admissions@brighton.ac.uk
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Course content
Course structure
Full-time students generally attend workshops on two days per week with the part-time route usually requiring one day per week. Some modules and other field-based activities may attendance on consecutive days. Teaching methods include lectures, seminars, workshops, group work, field-based activities, live scenarios, problem solving, and self-managed learning.
Areas of study
Coming from diverse cultures and backgrounds and with a broad range of career histories, students can expect to gain valuable insights into themes such as:
- development in the era of globalisation
- sustainable tourism development in local economies
- tourism and structural economic and regional change
- myths and realities of tourism development
- international cooperation, philanthropy and consultancy
- global and local conflicts in tourism
- south-south solutions to global problems
- tourism and poverty alleviation
- economic exploitation of the exotic
- gender equality and participation
- crisis management.Syllabus
Tourism and Development: Critical Perspectives
Globalisation, Society and Culture
Ethical and Social Responsibility: Theory and Application
Consultancy
Final projectOptions: two from
Tourism and International Cooperation
Tourism and Anthropology: Critical Perspectives
Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship
Risk and Crisis Management
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Fees and costs
The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2012-13. Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and may be subject to small increases, in line with inflation.
The tuition fee you have to pay depends on a number of factors including the kind of course you take, and whether you study full- or part-time. If you are studying part-time you will normally be charged on a pro rata basis depending on the number of modules you take.
What's included in the fee?
When costs such as health or criminal record checks, field trips or use of specialist materials are incurred as a mandatory requirement of the course they are included in your tuition fee.
You may incur additional costs depending on the optional modules or activities you choose. The cost of optional activities is not included in your tuition fee and you will need to meet this cost in addition to your fees. Before you apply please check with the school that provides your course using the contact details on the left of this page for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.
Our website www.brighton.ac.uk/money provides advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee paying status.
Tourism and International Development (MSc) (Full time) [J2BH001] UK/EU (Full Time) 6,120 GBP Island Students (Full Time) 7,700 GBP International (Full Time) 11,000 GBP -
Location
Location
Eastbourne Eastbourne is a thriving town which offers traditional seaside attractions, modern nightlife, good shopping and a wide range of sporting activities. It’s one of the sunniest places in the UK.
Our Eastbourne campus is located at the foot of the South Downs National Park, about ten minutes walk from the seafront and 20 minutes from the pier and Eastbourne town centre. Almost 3,000 students are based here.
View campus maps and directions
Living in Eastbourne
Eastbourne’s buzzing university community and compact town gives it a laid back and friendly feel. The town combines the traditional seaside attractions with modern nightlife, a wide range of sporting activities and an exciting arts scene.
Social scene
The student community in Eastbourne ensures it has a thriving social scene, with dedicated student nights at many of the town’s pubs and clubs. Eastbourne’s expanding nightlife includes trendy cocktail bars, laid-back country pubs and modern nightclubs.
Arts
The striking Towner contemporary art museum in Eastbourne features international exhibitions as well as a permanent art collection. Eastbourne's six theatres give you a chance to see West End musicals, touring shows, live music and comedy.
Sports
Eastbourne has long been the home of pre-Wimbledon tennis tournaments at Devonshire Park. Eastbourne also hosts an extreme sports festival and the Beachy Head Marathon that takes place across the South Downs National Park.
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Student views
Claudia Dolezal
Tourism and International Development MSc
Doing my MSc in Tourism and International Development was certainly the best decision I could have made. I appreciate the way lecturers and supervisors make students critically engage with the texts and topics that are relevant.
A different perspective
What the course offers compared to other universities is the way it regards tourism from different perspectives, rather than merely as a business or an industry. Tourism is also a social phenomenon, involving a great number of actors and environments. At the same time it is an increasingly recognized tool for international development. It is the complexity of both positive and rather challenging aspects that is picked up in the MSc. It teaches students that it is in the hands of all actors involved to fully understand tourism and hence be able to increase its positive impacts.
Excellent preparation
I enjoyed my studies so much that I am pursuing an academic career and will continue with a PhD in tourism research. I would also like to collect valuable experience in consultancy or multinational organisations engaging in tourism and development. I feel confident to do all this thanks to the excellent preparation on the MSc.
I am proud to have studied at the University of Brighton, a centre for tourism excellence combining research and practice.
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Career opportunities
This course provides a solid grounding in international development and globalisation concepts, theories and approaches. It provides graduates with the skills needed to operate in fields requiring knowledge about and strategic approaches to sustainable tourism development such as government organisations, development agencies, tourism offices, NGOs and consultancy.
Those thinking of starting a career in development or those already working in the sector who wish to consolidate and build on their professional experience will find in this MSc programme an excellent opportunity to gain theoretical and applied knowledge, to actively engage in development issues and debates from a interdisciplinary perspective and to work across sectors such as development policy, research and practice.
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More...
Core Modules:
Tourism and Development: Critical Perspectives
Consultancy
Globalisation, Culture and Society
Ethical and Social Responsibility: Theory and Application
Option Modules (two from):
Tourism and International Cooperation
Tourism and Anthropology: Critical Perspectives
Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship
Risk and Crisis Management
Plus the Final Project
Tourism and Development: Critical Perspectives: The aim of this module is to enable you to develop a critical appreciation of the theoretical and empirical links between international development theories and debates, and tourism.
You will work on developing a critical awareness of the role of tourism in sustainable development by critically assessing ‘mainstream’ and ‘alternative’ practices in sustainable tourism development (i.e. Mass tourism, Niche Tourism, Eco-tourism, Responsible, Pro-poor and Community-based tourism).
The module will also address issues such as: the major characteristics of the tourist industry at a global level and the factors that have influenced the nature and rate of the industry’s development (i.e. developed world, developing world/majority world/global South, emerging destinations/tourism flows); the nature and implications the sustainable development agenda on tourism and vice versa (social – e.g. power relations, economic – e.g. UNMDGs and poverty alleviation, environmental – e.g. climate change); the stakeholders perspective (i.e. tourists, agents of tourism development, host communities, funding bodies and aid donors).
Consultancy: This module is aimed at dealing with the complexities, lacunae, ethics and contradictions associated with the business consulting process.
You will work on developing an in depth understanding of the tourism and hospitality consulting process by undertaking critical evaluation of case studies and relevant current trends in tourism and hospitality consulting practices.
By practically assessing the essential phases of the preparation and delivery of various types of consultancy projects (i.e. World Bank, UNESCO, EU, Regional Agencies, Local Authorities), the ability to critically apply concepts and synthesize information will be developed.
The module has two parts, the first, general issues of consultancy practices and processes, the second with the more specific and practical contents such as: the uses of consultants - politics of consultancy - why consultants are called in; the bidding process and the business/project plan development, assessment and effective time management; issues of consultancy management, negotiations and format of final results; legal and ethical issues; field methodology applications and consultancy simulations.
Globalisation, Culture and Society: Globalisation is on many people’s mind, and a firm and frequent element of private and public debates and discussions. The term describes a process as well as an outcome.
Although many people tend to focus on the economic aspects of globalisation (e.g. international trade, foreign investment, capital flows, migration, etc.) this module will primarily consider the way societies and cultures have become more interdependent and (in some cases integrated) through a globe-spanning network of communication and information technologies.
Therefore this module is an attempt to show that there is more to the globalisation phenomenon than meets the eye, i.e. the fundamental aim for this module is to analyse the complexity, relevance and contested nature of the on-going globalisation process and to apply key models, concepts and theories to the critical analysis of the international tourism/hospitality/events industry as well as the respective management environments.
Ethical and Social Responsibility: Theory and Application: This module introduces you to some of the key moral complexities associated with ethics and social responsibility in the tourism, hospitality and events sectors.
It addresses a range of consumer, business and societal responses to the responsibilities associated with the production and consumption of these global products and services. The module will deal with issues such as corporate social responsibility, ethical and fair trade consumption, ethics and the environment, philanthropy and volunteering, and consumer attitudes, values and motivations.
The module is challenging but also innovative in its approach to the complexities associated with managing and consuming tourism, hospitality and events in a contemporary context.
Tourism and International Cooperation: This module is aimed at developing a critical awareness of the theoretical and empirical links between the international cooperation for development and the tourism debates.
You will contextually analyse international development and cooperation theories, concepts and debates from historical and contemporary perspectives.
You will also evaluate the role of stakeholders (i.e. Government, NGOs, Aid Agencies, Funding Bodies, Sponsors, experts, consultants, volunteers, philanthropists) and partnerships in tourism. In a very practical way you will reflect on key skills and practices required to work in tourism related international cooperation activities (i.e. project development, travel philanthropy, volunteering, consultancy, capacity building).
The module will also address issues such as: sustainability and the quadruple bottom line; philanthropic versus commercial practices; cross-cultural collaboration and knowledge exchange; capacity building and ‘train the trainers’ approach; biodiversity conservation as a concept for economic diversification regeneration; participation and community development; growing importance of niche specialism’s; myths and inequalities; power relations; and field work skills and practices.
Tourism and Anthropology: Critical Perspectives: Through this module you will develop a critically informed understanding of the relationship between tourism and social anthropology.
The activity of tourism creates opportunities for encounters between people, cultures and places, and anthropology provides a rich and stimulating lens through which to explore and debate how such encounters influence our understanding of the world in which we live.
You will explore what we mean by culture and how it is employed through tourism to represent ways of seeing, being and behaving. The work of anthropologists such as Malinowski, Levi-Strauss, Douglas and Ingold will be examined, together with key concepts, theories and perspectives, such as pilgrimage, kinship, ritual and myth.
You will learn about fieldwork and the ethnographic imagination and be provided with opportunities to use theory to investigate tourism encounters.
By the end of the module you will have acquired an in depth understanding of the social and cultural dynamics of tourist ‘society’.
Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship: This module will enable you to enhance your personal and team creativity and to understand the nature and role of innovation in a range of different types of service businesses.
Through completing this module you will also expand your awareness of entrepreneurs as a distinct managerial type and to evaluate the function and issues that impact on the operation of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the event and hospitality sectors and the environment in which they operate.
Specific topics in this module include Creativity and idea generation; Managing creativity and problem solving; Impacts of innovation on business culture; Entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial attributes; Starting a new business – Innovation and entrepreneurship; Small business planning and survival. Assessment will take place through a small group presentation and a further individual report.
Risk and Crisis Management: This module will enable you to demonstrate knowledge of, and critically evaluate, the key concepts, constructs and application of managing risk and crisis.
You will develop an understanding into the potential complexity and diversity of stakeholder involvement in risk and crisis management, and the techniques employed alongside the underlying principles of legal, regulatory and administrative frameworks.
You will be able to critically analyse and evaluate the operational application of risk and crisis management. Topics include constructs and concepts of risk management in event and tourism management, stakeholder involvement in risk and crisis management, legal, regulatory and administrative frameworks, health and safety, environmental protection, major incident planning.
Assessment will be in the form of a single 5,000 word essay on an aspect of risk or crisis management.
