Tourism and Hospitality MSc

Fast-track your career in the tourism and hospitality sectors. Progress rapidly in one of the world’s largest industries. Qualify for senior roles with significant responsibility.

Register your interest

Overview

An MSc is an internationally respected qualification. In one year, you'll develop the skills and knowledge to advance rapidly in tourism and hospitality management.

This master's course takes a social science approach to tourism and hospitality and combines it with practical skills for the workplace. You’ll complete theoretical modules ‘Tourism Concepts and Issues’ and ‘Critical Theories and Methods for Tourism, Hospitality and Events’, and in the final phase of the course, you’ll complete a major project personal to your interests and career aspirations.

Why us?

Guest speakers from industry and renowned academics

Field trip opportunities

Course structure

You’ll be taught by passionate academics who produce world-leading research. A typical week for you will include lectures, seminars, study visits, and group work. These are supported by a range of guest speakers from diverse academic and industry backgrounds.

Compared to an undergraduate course, you'll find that this master's degree requires a higher level of independent working.

Your progress will be assessed by essays, presentations, portfolios of evidence, and a dissertation.

Part-time students can expect around three hours of contact time a week.

Course modules

Hospitality Management Studies (30 credits)

Gain a solid introduction to hospitality as a global industry, covering key issues such as the complex structure of the industry in terms of ownership and employment practices. Address the industry’s impacts in terms of triple bottom line indicators (economic, socio-cultural, and environmental). Explore operational functions of hospitality such as food and beverage.

Tourism Concepts and Issues (30 credits)

Discover more about the complex and exciting world of tourism. Explore tourism as a social and cultural practice, tourist subjectivities, and the spatial dimension of tourism. Consider perspectives from different disciplines while sitting firmly within the social sciences.

Research Methods for the Services Sector (30 credits)

Expand your knowledge of the key theories, methodologies and philosophies adopted in tourism, hospitality, aviation and events research. Develop your practical skills using quantitative data analysis software in workshops. Gain the critical foundations required to undertake your own independent research project.

Current Practices in the Visitor Economy (30 credits)

Gain inside knowledge of the current trends in the tourism, hospitality, aviation, and events industries. Develop your understanding of current practices in the industry with the opportunity to undertake a residential field trip in the UK. Critically reflect on the relationship between theory and practice in relation to the visitor economy.

Tourism and Hospitality Major Project (60 credits)

Focus on an area of tourism or hospitality management of your choice and design and implement a research proposal. Set aims and objectives, select and implement research methods, conduct a literature review, collect empirical data, and analyse appropriately. Receive expert supervision and training in research methods, research design, and the interpretation of data and its relation to contextual material.

Some modules have prerequisites. Read more about what this means in our Help and Advice article.

More about MSc Tourism and Hospitality at Sunderland

Discover more articles

You can access free Wi-Fi throughout the University campus, so you can work from anywhere. If you don't want to carry a laptop around, just use one of the University’s PCs or Macs. We have hundreds of computers for you to use in the Murray Library, St Peter's Library, and the David Goldman Informatics Centre. If you ever have any technical problems, just ask the friendly helpdesk team.
IT provision
The St Peter’s Library contains over 31,000 books related to business, economics, management, human resources, marketing, strategy and tourism.

Added to this, you’ll benefit from a wide range of journals and periodicals in the St Peter’s Library, many of them in an online format. To help you make the most of the wealth of resources, there’s a full-time librarian who is dedicated to the Business and Tourism sections.

Further resources are available at the main Murray Library, which has a total of over 430,000 books with many more available through the inter-library loan service.
Library Services - business and tourism
Map and directions

Facilities

You’ll be based at The Reg Vardy Centre, on the Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter’s. The Reg Vardy Centre is a modern building with views of the river, and just a short walk from both the coast and Sunderland town centre.

Entry requirements

Our typical offer is:

Qualification	Minimum grade
a Canadian bachelor's degree	GPA 2.40
a USA bachelor's degree	GPA 2.5

If you already hold a postgraduate qualification, please see our Applying for additional postgraduate degrees Help and Advice article.

If you don't meet our standard entry requirements, you can take one of the foundation pathways at our partners ONCAMPUS Sunderland. Find out more information and whether your course is eligible on our ONCAMPUS page.

If your qualification is not listed above, please contact the Student Administration team at studentadmin@sunderland.ac.uk for further advice.

We require you to hold at least a 2:2 honours degree or equivalent.

Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL)

If you feel you already know some of the topics covered in this course, either due to previous learning or from experience of work, then you may not need to study all of the course. Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) is the name given to the process of gaining credit towards a qualification because of something you've learned in the past. If you're eligible for APL, you won't have to learn the same topic again, so you can be exempt from a module, set of modules, or year of a course. If you think you may be eligible for APL, please contact the course leader.

If English isn't your first language, please see our English language requirements.

Is your qualification not displaying here? For international qualifications, search our full list of international entry requirements for this course.

Fees and finance

2024/25 fees:

£7,500 if you're from the UK
£10,500 if you’re an EU student (this fee is inclusive of an EU student scholarship)
£16,500 if you're an international student
£445 per 10 credits for part-time study

2025/26 fees:

£8,500 if you're from the UK
£17,000 if you're an international student
£500 per 10 credits for part-time study

Please note that part-time courses are not available to international students who require a student visa to study in the UK.

Take a look at the scholarships and bursaries that may be available to you.

This information was correct at the time of publication.

The Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's by night

Career ready

An MSc is a challenging qualification which requires significant dedication. Employers recognise its worth, and the value that an MSc-qualified graduate can bring to their organisation. This master's course equips you with the skills and understanding to progress rapidly in tourism and hospitality management, and potential employment opportunities include hotel and resort management, attractions and museums, destination marketing agencies, tourism companies, restaurant and bar management, and catering management.

The Enterprise Place

If you have a good idea for a new business and have the dedication and motivation to make it happen, we want to hear from you. The Enterprise Place, based on campus at St Peter's Gate Business Centre, is the perfect environment for entrepreneurial students and graduates to turn their business ideas into reality. You'll have access to free hot desk space, IT facilities, specialist advice and support, business mentors, and networking opportunities.

To find out more about how we can help you start a business, please contact the University's Enterprise Team at enterprise@sunderland.ac.uk or 0191 515 3751.

Related courses

Contact

Contact the Student Helpline for further information about studying at the University of Sunderland:
0191 515 3000
student.helpline@sunderland.ac.uk

View Programme Specifications for the Faculty of Business, Law and Tourism.

Page last updated: 14 November 2024

We aim to provide clear, accurate and timely information to prospective and current students. We continuously review and enhance course content in consultation with our students and the information provided on our website is the latest available. If you have received an offer from us to start a course, we will communicate any important changes to you in writing. We will always seek to ensure that our prospective students are fully aware of the basis on which they are accepting an offer.