TOURISM MANAGEMENT - 2025/6

Module Overview

During the 20th century tourism has developed into one of the major activities and industries in the world and it looks set to continue its global importance in the new century. Against this background there is a need to consider the context to this development and to appreciate the current position and influences on the demand for tourism. With this background, students will be able to understand the nature of the industry and its management issues.

Module provider

Surrey Hospitality & Tourism Management

Module Leader

KNOX Dan (SII DUFE)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 4

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 1

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None.

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• Meaning, nature and definitions of tourism


• World tourism patterns and influences


• Tourism suppliers and intermediaries


• Managing tourism


• Models of tourism development


• Consumer behaviour and tourist motivations


• Innovation in tourism


• Tourist markets


• Managing destinations


• Tourism Strategy


• Future developments and trends in tourism

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Where the Group Presentation cannot be completed, an individual mini essay questions of 500 words will be assigned.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to allow students to demonstrate their knowledge of the context of tourism and the extent to which they have been able to evaluate the issues, both individually and collectively.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• 
  a group presentation based on a real-life case study to provide an opportunity for students to demonstrate their ability to work effectively in groups
  


• 
  an individual essay to encourage students to further explore their own views in this field and to demonstrate their ability to apply relevant theory to explain tourism management developments.
  

Formative assessment and feedback:

Students will receive verbal feedback on their performance during in-class activities, including the group presentation. A session will be organized to provide formative feedback on students’ planned individual essay based on a preliminary work plan.

Module aims

• The aim of this module is to explore the context for tourism and its management.  It seeks to set out the meaning and nature of tourism and to demonstrate the ways in which it has developed. It then goes on to consider the current scale and patterns of tourist demand, the influences on demand and management of tourism.  

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The teaching and learning strategy is designed to provide students with key information about tourism management to encourage them to explore and evaluate developments, trends and challenges in tourism (destination, sector and firm level).

The teaching and learning methods include:

• lectures to provide a framework of knowledge


• seminars to provide opportunities for case study analyses and class discussions


• guided learning tasks to facilitate individual study, critical thinking and the creation of in-depth knowledge on certain topic areas (e.g. sustainability)


• guest lectures by representatives from DMOs or tourism businesses to present up-to-date insight from the tourism industry and practice-oriented learning opportunities


• a field trip to a local destination to gain practical insight on destination management and to transfer theories from lectures into a real-life context

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: MAN1067

Other information

This module adopts the University curriculum framework which aims to develop learners with strong capabilities in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience. This module contributes to the development of the following capabilities: 

Global and Cultural Capabilities: The module revolves around the development and management of tourism destinations and tourism businesses from a global perspective. Students develop an understanding of the influence of environment on tourism development, including national and cultural environments. Since students are from different countries with diverse cultural backgrounds, class discussions and seminar exercises will be used to reinforce students’ global and cultural capabilities.

Digital Capabilities: Teaching and learning materials are provided in several formats, and students are encouraged to use discussion boards for communication. Students will be provided instruction on digital literature review searches that support their development of independent learning and successful assessment preparation. Students will use the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), SurreyLearn, e-library, and video conferencing platforms such as Microsoft Teams to facilitate learning. These include accessing teaching and learning materials and engaging with their instructors and peers.

Employability: Guest lecturers will present up-to-date insight from the tourism industry on relevant topics and provide an opportunity for students to directly learn from tourism stakeholders. A field trip to a local destination will provide further opportunities to gain insight on the roles of tourism stakeholders in destination management and marketing. Students will gain knowledge on current developments in tourism and be taught to critically evaluate these developments. They will also learn how to develop strategies to manage these developments. All these skills can be transferred to various situations at the work place, including problem-solving tasks.

Sustainability: Sustainability is an important element of tourism management. This module motivates students to critically evaluate tourism management strategies in terms of sustainability practices using real-life case examples and class discussions. In the seminar, students will be guided in developing recommendations for minimizing negative impacts of tourism for the society, environment and/or economy based on their knowledge of sustainable tourism management.  

Resourcefulness and Resilience: The assessment strategy comprises two stages: formative assessment and summative assessment. Through this strategy, this module empowers students to build self-evaluation into assessment processes and create spaces for students to reflect on their own performance whilst reviewing feedback. The structured schedule of the two-stage assessment will also support students in developing time management skills. Also, students are motivated to make informed decisions from a range of options as to which aspect of their work they would like to request feedback. The critical nature of the in-class discussion will help foster openness by encouraging students to understand and discuss contrasting perspectives. During the group work, students are expected to constructively engage with their team and create a mutually beneficial learning process that helps them develop skills around respect and empathy to support other learners and enhances their ability to positively respond to team setbacks.

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2025/6 academic year.