MSc Tourism Scheme Top-Up (DL)

This module serves as a guide to the complex and exciting world of tourism. Like a travel guidebook, it aims to spark curiosity, highlight key areas of interest, and support your learning. You'll explore tourism as a social and cultural practice. Today, travel is more common than ever, and tourism can seem like a normal and obvious part of life. However, its social and cultural importance is much debated and deserves careful study.

You'll also explore the spatial side of tourism and examine the types of places tourism creates and how it affects them. You'll consider how tourism is changing in a rapidly globalised world.

In this module, you'll explore current ideas and debates in the visitor economy. This includes tourism, hospitality, events, and aviation. You’ll look at recent trends and learn what’s shaping the sector today. You’ll also see how theory links to practice, and how universities and industry work together.

You’ll learn through lectures and seminars, with guest speakers sharing both practical insights and theory. You’ll also take part in a field trip, giving you first-hand experience of the challenges and opportunities in the industry.

As the visitor economy changes quickly, some content may vary. You’ll explore local, national and global perspectives throughout the module.

This module builds your understanding of research and how it works in the services sector.

You’ll explore the basics of research across tourism, hospitality, events, and aviation. This includes different methods, such as qualitative, quantitative, and mixed approaches. It also covers how to collect and analyse data.

You’ll learn how to plan your own research by setting aims, writing questions, and developing a proposal.

The module prepares you for your final major project. This is where you’ll carry out your own independent research. You’ll build your critical thinking and explore key ideas about knowledge, truth, and ethics in research.

This module introduces aviation as a global industry. You’ll explore how it's structured, including ownership and employment practices.

You’ll look at key operations, such as airport communications and crisis management. You’ll also explore branding and how customers choose aviation services.

You’ll examine aviation’s impact using the "triple bottom line" approach. This means looking at economic, social, and environmental factors. You’ll take a global view, with examples from developing and emerging economies.

You’ll study the role of aviation in the wider economy, along with key challenges like climate change and sustainability. The module also covers airline management and marketing, airport operations and logistics, and service standards.

You’ll explore safety, new technologies, and the factors shaping the industry. This includes globalisation, emerging markets, low-cost airlines, innovation, alliances, mergers, and joint business agreements.

You’ll also learn about the main principles of aviation law.

This module mixes business skills with ideas from the social sciences to help you understand events. You’ll learn how events work in the tourism and hospitality industries. You’ll also explore how we plan and manage events, and why the audience experience matters so much.

You’ll look at events from different angles, including social, cultural, economic, and political views. This means exploring how events connect to tourism, leisure, recreation, hospitality, and the creative industries. You’ll learn key ideas about how we organise and manage events, and you’ll also think about them in a more critical way.

You’ll explore topics like why people attend events, what makes an experience feel real, and how events can shape identity. You’ll also look at how events can bring communities together, how we can turn culture into a product, and what celebration means in today’s "experience economy".

Using a mix of theory and real-world examples, you’ll learn how events work in practice. This includes looking at policies, planning, and how events can support city growth and regeneration. Because events are global and people-focused, you’ll also explore important issues like inclusion, cultural diversity, social class, and gender.

In this module, you’ll carry out your own research project. You’ll need to get your proposal approved by the module leader before you begin your fieldwork. You’ll receive support throughout, right up to your final submission.

• Research Design – you’ll identify research problems, find gaps in existing knowledge, and develop and test your ideas. You’ll explore different approaches to research and learn how to pilot your project.

• Methodological Approaches – you’ll learn about qualitative and quantitative methods, and how to choose the right approach for your project. You’ll also explore approaches like grounded theory and ethnography.

• Making Research Contacts – you’ll learn how to contact participants, gain access, arrange interviews, and reflect on your role as a researcher while collecting data.

• Analysis of Data – you’ll explore how to analyse your findings, including coding and interpreting qualitative data. You’ll also use basic statistical tools, transcribe interviews, and check the reliability of your results.

• Writing Research Reports – you’ll learn how to structure your dissertation, present your findings clearly, and communicate your ideas to your audience.

This module gives you a strong introduction to hospitality as a global industry. You’ll explore the structure of the industry, including business ownership and employment. You’ll also learn about how hospitality works day to day, including food and beverage operations.

You’ll look at how hospitality products are created and experienced. This includes topics like branding and consumer behaviour, helping you understand what shapes customer choices. You’ll also explore the impact of the industry using the "triple bottom line" – economic, social, and environmental factors.

You’ll take a global view, with examples from developing and emerging economies. This helps you see how hospitality works in different parts of the world.

You’ll also explore how hospitality businesses are set up and run, including ownership models like management contracts and franchising. Along the way, you’ll look at key issues such as employment practices, cultural diversity, branding, and sustainability.

In this module, you’ll carry out your own research project. You’ll need to get your proposal approved by the module leader before you begin your fieldwork. You’ll receive support throughout, right up to your final submission.

• Research Design – you’ll identify research problems, find gaps in existing knowledge, and develop and test your ideas. You’ll explore different approaches to research and learn how to pilot your project.

• Methodological Approaches – you’ll learn about qualitative and quantitative methods, and how to choose the right approach for your project. You’ll also explore approaches like grounded theory and ethnography.

• Making Research Contacts – you’ll learn how to contact participants, gain access, arrange interviews, and reflect on your role as a researcher while collecting data.

• Analysis of Data – you’ll explore how to analyse your findings, including coding and interpreting qualitative data. You’ll also use basic statistical tools, transcribe interviews, and check the reliability of your results.

• Writing Research Reports – you’ll learn how to structure your dissertation, present your findings clearly, and communicate your ideas to your audience.

This module introduces you to sustainable development and how it links to tourism. You’ll explore how global agendas shape the way tourism develops, and how it can support strong, sustainable communities.

Topics include sustainable cities, reducing poverty, community values, cultural heritage, and building understanding between cultures.

You’ll also explore the environmental side of tourism. This includes protecting biodiversity, responding to climate change, and caring for land and sea life. You’ll learn about ways the industry can adapt and reduce its impact.

The module also looks at tourism and the economy. You’ll explore how tourism can support long-term growth and create stable jobs. You’ll also learn about informal and sharing economies, and the role they play.

You’ll cover the ethical side of tourism too. This includes topics like equality, peace and justice, and responsible consumption. You’ll also explore the challenges of putting sustainable ideas into practice, including the need for partnerships, global action, and ways to measure progress.

Finally, you’ll look at innovation in sustainable tourism. You’ll explore real examples and practical solutions, and think about what the future of tourism could look like – including ideas like wellbeing and regenerative tourism. You’ll finish by reviewing what you’ve learned and sharing your feedback.

In this module, you’ll carry out your own research project. You’ll need to get your proposal approved by the module leader before you begin your fieldwork. You’ll receive support throughout, right up to your final submission.

• Research Design – you’ll identify research problems, find gaps in existing knowledge, and develop and test your ideas. You’ll explore different approaches to research and learn how to pilot your project.

• Methodological Approaches – you’ll learn about qualitative and quantitative methods, and how to choose the right approach for your project. You’ll also explore approaches like grounded theory and ethnography.

• Making Research Contacts – you’ll learn how to contact participants, gain access, arrange interviews, and reflect on your role as a researcher while collecting data.

• Analysis of Data – you’ll explore how to analyse your findings, including coding and interpreting qualitative data. You’ll also use basic statistical tools, transcribe interviews, and check the reliability of your results.

• Writing Research Reports – you’ll learn how to structure your dissertation, present your findings clearly, and communicate your ideas to your audience.