SUSTAINABILITY IN AVIATION AND TOURISM - 2025/6

Module Overview

The growth of air travel tourism in the recent past has made global travel accessible to unprecedented numbers of people; however, this progress has come at a high cost to the societies and the environments of the places visited, as well as having global climate change consequences. All stakeholders have a responsibility to contribute to sustainable forms of development, that allow us to balance the ambitions of a wealthier society, the needs of the most vulnerable communities, and the capacity of the planet to sustain us.

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 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

n/a

Module content

Indicative content includes:

Aviation and Tourism within the planetary boundaries: mitigation, adaptation and resilience. 

Positive and negative impacts of tourism and transport, with an emphasis on air transport: concepts and measurement methods.

The motivations and barriers to sustainable behaviour change: individual, corporate and societal levels.

Stakeholder engagement, materiality analysis and corporate social reporting.

Sustainability management systems: sustainability policies, baseline assessment, action planning, operationalisation, monitoring and evaluation.

Sustainability principles applied to organisational management functions.

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge of the concepts and current practices of the aviation and tourism industry's sustainability efforts, and the extent to which the industry has been able to address the issues.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• An individual case study to encourage the identification of current industry best practices on sustainability management.


•  an individual essay to contextualise the chosen case in literature and industry benchmarks, to evaluate current practices, and to make recommendations for further improvements.

Formative assessment and feedback.

Students will receive verbal feedback on their performance during in-class activities. A session will be organised to provide formative feedback on students planned individual essay based on a preliminary work plan.

Module aims

• This module investigates the positive and negative impacts that tourism and transport, with a particular focus on air transport, have towards the ability of having sustainable livelihoods within the capacity of our planet.
• We will gain a greater understanding of mitigation adaptation and resilience to the impacts of climate change (and other societal challenges) that will require changes in tourism and transport practices in the long term.
• We will review the motivations and challenges of changing current business models towards one planet living, using theory and case studies, and it outlines some of the management tools and latest developments available to balance the economic, social and environmental demands placed on our industries and society.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The teaching and learning strategy is designed to provide students with key concepts and theories about the (un)sustainable use of resources by the aviation and tourism industries, and the capacity of these industries to contribute towards sustainable development. The module will mainly focus on global phenomena and the ability of the private sector to be accountable and take responsibility towards making a positive net contribution to society.

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 current sustainable tourism practices

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: MAN1156

Other information

This module adopts the University's 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 understanding, measuring and managing negative impacts of aviation and tourism. Students will develop an understanding of the impacts caused by aviation and tourism development and operations. Since students are from different countries with diverse cultural backgrounds, and the impacts of tourism are affecting different geographies and societies differently, 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, video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, to facilitate learning. These include accessing teaching and learning materials and engaging with their instructors and peers.

Employability: Guest lecturers will be present up-to-date insight from the aviation and tourism industry on relevant topics and provide an opportunity for students to directly learn from industry stakeholders. Students will gain knowledge on current developments in aviation and tourism and be taught to critically evaluate these developments, considering, in particular, unintended negative consequences and management options to address them. They will also learn how to develop strategies to manage these developments. All these skills can be transferred to various situations at the workplace, including problem-solving tasks.

Sustainability: This module motivates students to critically evaluate the impacts of the aviation and tourism industry on society, environment and economy through a case study analysis and class discussion. Students will be guided in developing recommendations for minimising negative impacts of aviation and tourism for society, environment and/or economy based on their knowledge of sustainable management and sustainable development.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: The assessment strategy which comprises two stages, both summatively assessed, with the first case study being the foundation for the second, more analytical assessment. Through this strategy, this module helps students achieve a first milestone and receive feedback on their work, which will help them improve their performance on the final part of the assessment. The structured schedule of the two-stage assessment will also support students in developing effective 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.

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.