THE VISITOR ECONOMY AND BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT - 2025/6

Module Overview

Businesses do not exist in isolation. They operate within a complex and sometimes turbulent environments. This module invites students to explore the influences of various external factors¿international, economic, political, ecological, technological, socio-cultural and technological¿at local, national and international levels on business organisations, and how businesses can in turn impact the environment.

Module provider

Surrey Hospitality & Tourism Management

Module Leader

CHEN Jason (Hosp & Tour)

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

n/a

Module content

Indicative content includes, but is not restricted to:

Introduction to visitor economy and business environment

International business environment

Economic environment and economic impacts of businesses

Political environment

Ecological environment and environmental impacts of businesses

Social demographic environment and socio-cultural impacts of businesses

Technological environment and digital impacts of businesses

Strategy and the changing environment

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

In the event that a group report is not suitable for re-assessment, an individual report of 1,000 words will be assigned.

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate a comprehensive and accurate understanding of how environmental factors can affect businesses, and how businesses can in turn impact the environment..

The summative assessment for this module consists of:

• A group project report and


• a closed-book examination of multiple-choice questions to be held at the end of the semester.

Module aims

• 
  
  This module will explore the relationships between businesses and a number of related external environments, with particular attention being paid to the economic, political, technological, social-cultural, ethical and ecological environments. For example, consideration is given to how governmental organisations at local, national and international levels influence business organisation and management. It helps students develop strong capabilities in Employability, Digital Capabilities, Global and Cultural Capabilities, Sustainability and Resourcefulness and Resilience.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to allow students to develop their learning both individually and in a group, to discuss their views based on a critical understanding of issues, to present their ideas with confidence and to manage and critically reflect on their learning.

The learning and teaching methods include:

Lectures, designed to provide a framework of knowledge. These will be accompanied by  seminars later in the week that focus on case studies and examples. Case studies will ensure students appreciate the relevance of the material to the current trends.

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: MAN1158

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: 

Digital Capabilities: The Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) is an essential part of this module. In particular, the topic of Technological Environment and Digital Impacts of Businesses allows students to analyse how digital technologies shape business strategies, customer interactions, and operational processes. Through hands-on activities and case studies, students can gain insights into the practical applications of technology in business, enhancing their digital literacy and preparing them for the challenges of the modern workplace. Students will use the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) including SurreyLearn, online voting and Microsoft Teams to facilitate learning and teaching. These include accessing teaching and learning materials, participating in interactive activities, conducting assessments and engaging with their instructors and peers.

Employability: This module provides a range of opportunities to develop students' knowledge, skills and capabilities in employability. This module examines the impacts of various external environments at local, national and international levels on business organisations and management. It will enable students to develop a solid knowledge base and critical understanding of business environments. Through the analyses of various impacts of the international, economic, political, ecological, technological, socio-cultural and technological environments on the conduct of business organisations and the evaluation of business impacts, students will have the opportunity to develop the professional and analytical skills in employability.

Global and Cultural Capabilities: The module introduces the business environment from a global perspective. Examples and case studies from different countries will be used in lectures and seminars to allow students to develop a global view. In particular, topics such as International Business Environment, Political Environment, Social Demographic Environment and Socio-Cultural Impacts of Businesses provide comparisons and contrasts across different societies and cultures.

Sustainability: This module motivates students to critically evaluate various impacts through case studies and class discussion. Particularly, topics such as Ecological Environment and Environmental Impacts of Businesses allow students to develop a comprehensive understanding of the sustainability issue.

Resourcefulness and Resilience: The assessment strategy comprises two stages: formative assessments and summative assessments. Through this strategy, this module empowers students to build self-evaluation into assessment process and create space for students to reflect on own performance whilst reviewing feedback. A combination of individual and group summative assessments encourage students to be resourceful to develop the skills required. The critical nature of the in-class discussion will help foster openness by encouraging students to understand and discuss contrasting perspectives.

Programmes this module appears in

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.