International Tourism Management MSc (PGCert PGDip)

Course in brief

This programme offers an innovative and visionary approach in the study of tourism as both an economic and social phenomenon.

Our view is that tourism has become an integral part of the culture of many regions around the world. This has had a powerful influence on identity, representation and business environments in developed as well as developing nations.

On a global scale, the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) forecasts an increase in the number of international arrivals in the region of 1.6 billion by the year 2020. As such the industry needs people who understand the significance, complexity and dynamics of this diverse and evolving sector.

Our International Tourism Management MSc recognises both the continuing importance and value of the global tourism industry in economic terms and the significance of its social, political and environmental implications.

We are an affiliate member of UNWTO, which informs our teaching and your learning.

Scholarships

Scholarships are available for this course. Find out if you are eligible in the fees and funding tab below.

Key facts

Location Eastbourne

Full-time 1 year
Part-time 2-6 years

Apply online

You can apply for 2016 and 2017: please check that you meet the entry requirements before you make your application.

Apply now for your place

Entry requirements

The entry requirements listed here are our typical offer for this course if you wish to begin studying with us in 2017. They should be used as a general guide.

We operate a flexible admissions policy – this means that you could receive a lower conditional offer than the typical offer, informed by our assessment of your complementary non-academic achievements and experiences. For courses that require interview or portfolio review, this may also be considered in the level of any conditional offer that follows if your application is successful.

Degree and/or experience:
Relevant 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 non-native speakers of English:
IELTS 6.5 overall, with 6.0 in writing and a minimum of 5.5 in the other elements.

International equivalencies

International equivalencies by country

Albania
Algeria
Argentina
Australia
Austria
Bahrain
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bermuda
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Botswana
Brazil
Bulgaria
Burma (Myanmar)
Cameroon
Canada
Chile
China
Colombia
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Ecuador
Egypt
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Ghana
Greece
Guyana
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Iraq
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Jamaica
Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Kosovo
Kuwait
Latvia
Lebanon
Liechtenstein
Libya
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macedonia
Malaysia
Malawi
Malta
Mexico
Moldova
Montenegro
Morocco
Namibia
Nepal
Netherlands
New Zealand
Nigeria
Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Palestinian National Authority
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Qatar
Romania
Russian Federation
Saudi Arabia
Serbia
Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovakia
Slovenia
South Africa
South Korea
Spain
Sri Lanka
Syria
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Tanzania
Thailand
Tunisia
Turkey
Uganda
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
United States
Uzbekistan
Venezuela
Vietnam
Yemen
Zambia
Zimbabwe

We can help you meet our English language or academic entry requirements.

Visit our language institute

For English language preparation courses.

Visit our International College

For academic preparation courses.

Course in detail

Course structure

The course is delivered through a variety of lectures, workshops, presentations, tutorials and case studies with an emphasis on interactive learning. Full-time students attend class two days per week, while part-time students usually attend once per week. Some modules may be delivered intensively over several consecutive days.

A distinctive feature of postgraduate study within the school is the flexibility and choice provided by the final project. Guided by your programme of study and in consultation with an individual supervisor, there are several options open to you. Whether undertaking an academic dissertation, an applied piece of research such as a business or enterprise project or a study that includes a portfolio or exhibition of work, the final project enables you to pursue your own particular interest in an area relevant to your programme of study.

For international students, the MSc also offers an extended masters route with English language study for between two and sixth months before the course begins.

Areas of study

The course seeks to address contemporary issues in sustainable tourism development and management and is cross-disciplinary in nature drawing on themes such as regional studies, anthropology, visual culture and special interest tourism.

Core management studies including strategy, operations management, finance, marketing and human resources are integrated with specialist subjects that address the key needs of the international tourism industry.

Modules

Critical Perspectives in Tourism Management
Managing Resources in Hospitality and Tourism Operations
Management Strategy in a Global Business Environment
Globalisation, Society and Culture

Two from:

Consultancy
Ethical and Social Responsibility: Theory and Application
The Visual and Visuality: Performing Culture
Professional Enquiry
Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development
Digital Marketing Strategies
Risk and Crisis Management
Ethnography
International Hospitality Development
Human Resource Strategy in Multi-unit Service Organisations
Contemporary Issues in Cruise Management

Modules in focus

Critical Perspectives in Tourism Management covers topics including sustainability, poverty alleviation, climate change, social impact and planning. It helps you to develop a critical understanding of the complex and integrated nature of the major issues surrounding and affecting contemporary tourism management. Assessment takes the form of a 5,000-word essay written in the style of a journal article.

Managing Resources in Hospitality and Tourism explores those topics which underpin the effective planning and management of physical, human and financial resources in relevant industries. Completion of this module will enable you to critically assess operational issues in managing resources, issues which dovetail with strategic management objectives.

Management Strategy in a Global Business Environment enables you to appraise different strategic planning and management frameworks, and consider how they can be successfully implemented. Assessment takes the form of a group presentation, based on the analysis of sector-specific strategy formation, and an individual essay.

Globalisation, Society and Culture considers the ways in which different societies have become more interdependent through a global network of communication and information technologies, and therefore moves beyond the conventionally economic emphasis of conversations on globalisation. The module considers specifically how the event industry is affected by this process.

Consultancy deals with the complexities, ethics and contradictions of the business-consulting process. It involves assessing the preparation and delivery of various types of consultancy projects, for example in the World Bank, UNESCO and the EU. You also engage in consultancy simulations to gain practical experience in the field.

Ethical and Social Responsibility: Theory and Application introduces you to the moral complexities associated with the tourism, hospitality and event sectors. It also addresses a range of consumer, business and societal responses to these issues, and considers how a global tourism industry can be ethically maintained.

The Visual and Visuality: Performing Culture explores how the seam of visual ‘evidence’, in all its various forms, informs our understanding of travel and tourism as social constructs. Themes of the module include: media advertising, destination marketing, the consumption of images, travel photography as performance, the visual appropriation of place, and visual souvenirs.

Risk and Crisis Management explores the potential complexity and diversity of stakeholder involvement in this arena, and the underlying principles of legal, regulatory and administrative frameworks. Assessment takes the form of a single 5,000-word essay on an aspect of risk or crisis management.

Professional experience

Professional Enquiry Module

All credit-based postgraduate courses at the School of Sport and Service Management offer an optional Professional Enquiry module.

The module offers you an opportunity to undertake practical experience in a work environment and gain invaluable first-hand knowledge. It is designed to help you engage with the process of planning and delivering expertise in practice, and to reflect upon and take steps to improve your academic, personal and professional skills.

In Semester 1 (September–January) you will have classes on CV development, interview skills, target setting, reflective practice and experiential learning, leading to 100 hours of professional experience in Semester 2 (February–June). This experience could take the form of a part-time job, an unpaid internship, a volunteering opportunity in the university or time as a mentee in your chosen industry. You can also take this module as part of a live consultancy in connection with one of your tourism, sport, hospitality or event modules, either in the UK or a School of Sport and Service Management project overseas.

Our school-based Employability Hub will be on hand to assist you in securing an experience that best meets your career goals and aspirations. Professional experience will enhance your practice and academic knowledge, and many of our students have started their careers with their placement organisation.

Staff profile

Dr Clare Weeden Principal lecturer

"I have extensive experience in the hospitality and tourism industries – both in Europe and the USA prior to beginning my career with the School of Sport and Service Management. My roles have included licensed retail management for a small microbrewery and a range of senior operational roles within a large multinational hotel chain.

"I was awarded my PhD in 2008 from the University of Glasgow where I explored the influence of personal values on the holiday choice decisions of ethical consumers.

"I teach and research in the following areas: ethical and responsible tourists, CSR in tourism, cruise tourism, destination marketing, and travel and visual culture."

Careers and employability

Graduates from this course are generally expected to take up senior positions in tourism organisations, undertake consultancy, become sector analysts, enter the public sector or pursue an academic career. Previous students include:

a business analyst at Deloitte
a conference organiser at Maris Hotels
a sales coordinator at Travel Department
an operations manager at American Express.

Fees and funding

Your fees

UK/EU (full-time)6,840 GBP

International (full-time)12,690 GBP

Scholarships

Scholarships are available for this course. Find out if you are eligible.

The fees listed here are for full-time courses beginning in the academic year 2016–17. Further tuition fees are payable for each subsequent year of study and are subject to an annual increase of no more than 5% or RPI (whichever is the greater). The annual increase for UK/EU students, who are subject to regulated fees, will increase no more than the statutory maximum fee. Further details regarding tuition fees are available from the university’s student contract and tuition fee policy (pdf).

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 DBS 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 check with the school that provides your course using the contact details in the Find out more tab (at the end of this page) for advice about what is included and what optional costs you could face so you can budget accordingly.

See our finance pages for advice about funding and scholarships as well as further information about fees and advice on international and island fee paying status.

Location and living here

Location

About Eastbourne

Eastbourne is known for being sunny, friendly and relaxed, with natural attractions such as the beach and the beautiful hills of the South Downs. Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Britain, is just outside of town and a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Arts and culture: Eastbourne is home to the award-winning Towner Art Gallery, one of the finest contemporary art museums in the south-east. The town also has four Grade II listed theatres: the Congress Theatre, the Devonshire Park Theatre, the Winter Garden and the Royal Hippodrome Theatre.

Festivals: Set in the Winter Garden and the Birley Centre – a contemporary performing arts venue – the Eastbourne Music and Arts Festival promotes the study and practice of music, dance and drama. Eastbourne’s Annual Beer Festival meanwhile is the biggest beer festival in East Sussex, featuring 150 real cask ales, a cider bar, a wine bar and live music.

Nightlife: Eastbourne has a great selection of clubs for your night out. Top picks include Cameo – the town’s largest nightclub – and Atlantis on Eastbourne Pier. If you don't feel like dancing, take advantage of the student deals at Hudsons Bar.

Shopping: The town’s main shopping centre is the Eastbourne Arndale Centre. For a more boutique experience, head to Little Chelsea – an independent shopping and dining district specialising in contemporary art, interior design, antiques and jewellery.

Sports: Eastbourne hosts some major sporting events, from Eastbourne Extreme – one of the biggest extreme sports festivals in the UK – to Eastbourne International, an annual tennis tournament where some of the world’s finest players prepare for Wimbledon.

Campus where this course is taught

Eastbourne campus

Located in one of the sunniest towns in the UK, our Eastbourne campus sits between the hills of the South Downs National Park and the south coast.

The campus has extensive sporting facilities, including a sports hall, fitness suite, climbing wall, swimming pool, three gyms, a dance studio and an artificial training pitch. For sport and exercise students, there are also exercise physiology labs, a human movement laboratory and an environmental chamber.

Podiatry students gain real-life experience in the Leaf Hospital clinic, with its comprehensive range of diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, while physiotherapy students are taught in specialist practical skills rooms. The Culinary Arts Studio allows hospitality students to engage in workplace simulations and consumer research.

Accommodation

Eastbourne

Our Eastbourne hall of residence, Welkin Halls, is in the residential Meads area, next to the Hillbrow and Welkin site and within walking distance of Darley Road. The train station is about 20 minutes away on foot.

You can choose between a standard room and a large room. In both cases, the rent covers bills and internet access, as well as breakfast and an evening meal during term time. There are more than 150 rooms available here, with six to eight rooms per flat, and all are ensuite.

Aside from halls, you have the option of Unihomes, which we let out to our students on behalf of private landlords. The rent covers internet and £5,000 of contents insurance but excludes gas, electricity and water.*

You can also choose to join the many students who live away from campus in private rented accommodation. We have a list of high-quality, university-endorsed private sector accommodation and can help you find housemates to move in with.

If you have any questions about accommodation in Eastbourne, our accommodation team will be happy to help. You can contact them by email at accomeastbourne@brighton.ac.uk or by telephone on 01273 643810.

*Please note that all Eastbourne Unihomes have been let for students starting in September 2016.

Welkin Halls

Welkin bedroom

Maps

Accommodation

University building

Eastbourne campus map

Find out more

If you have a question about this course, our enquiries team will be happy to help.

01273 644644
enquiries@brighton.ac.uk

Keep up with the school’s latest news on the postgraduate moments blog. You can also get in touch with current postgraduate students, graduates and staff by joining the school’s postgraduate Facebook group or LinkedIn group.

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Student views

Yanting Huang

"I decided to undertake a masters degree to broaden my horizons and enhance my career prospects. I chose to study in the UK, largely because when I worked in China I had met many British people, some of whom I had remained in contact with. My research found that the University of Brighton offered the best course for my needs and I do not regret this decision.

"I have enjoyed studying at the Eastbourne campus and have found the focus to be very practical, while the teaching staff have been helpful, stimulating and encouraging. I believe my experience at the University of Brighton will be of immense value in the future development of my career in the tourism industry.

"I should add that living in Eastbourne has been fun. The beautiful countryside and friendly people will always hold wonderful memories for me."

Gavin Zhou

"Since graduation I have set up two businesses with friends that I met while studying here. What I learned at the University of Brighton has helped me do this. One business provides financial consultation services and trading training courses, whilst the other imports international products to the Chinese market.

"My course taught me how to find a gap in the market and the importance of market research when setting up a business. The whole process of writing a business plan for my dissertation also helped me develop a clear direction. The cooperation skills, research techniques and communication skills I have learned from lectures, seminars, group work and social events are really useful in my business, as well as my personal life. I feel very lucky to be a graduate of the University of Brighton.

"The way of learning in UK is different from how I studied in China. At the beginning, it was a challenge to understand, but with help from tutors and classmates I successfully graduated. The university’s tutorial system helped a lot and the staff were patient to explain, explain and explain until I understood. I can’t thank the staff enough for the help, encouragement and knowledge I received.

"I made so many friends at the University of Brighton and because they were from different countries and backgrounds, I have learned about their cultures, which has enriched my study experience, and also broadened my horizons. There were various communities and events to join, and I had the opportunity to become a student ambassador. My communication skills, presentation skills, and confidence have improved massively from all these experiences!

"The Eastbourne campus is just by the sea so if you want to have a walk along the seaside, it is very convenient. It is also near Brighton and London, which are easy to get to.

"I would highly recommend the International Tourism Management MSc."

Gladys (Kuang-Ting) Lu

"My experience of studying at the University of Brighton for my postgraduate degree was challenging but unforgettably beautiful. The people were very friendly, the climate was very comfortable but most important the tourism industry was operating at a very high level. Eastbourne has numerous historic sites and easily reachable tourist spots.

"The quality of the education was excellent and studying there was very rewarding and fun. The tutors supported me with great advice, taught me lots of useful practical skills such as critical thinking methods and helped increase my knowledge immensely. I particularly enjoyed the brain storming exercises with fellow students who come from around the world; it was interesting and meaningful as I could interact with a culturally diverse group of people who have distinctive perspectives and viewpoints.

"Many assignments pushed us to use theories in practical applications – for example, thanks to the knowledge acquired from Management Strategy in a Global Business Environment I am now capable of using management strategies to increase efficiency in my family’s business. I now have more creative ideas and a set of tools at my disposal to realise my plan of turning the business to attract more international guests. Now, I am making it come true!"