DESTINATION MANAGEMENT - 2025/6

Module Overview

Destination management organizations (DMOs) and convention bureaux operate in a complex environment. They need to act as change agents and embrace social responsibility, sustainability, and stewardship. Destination management must be understood as building and sustaining partnerships between society, businesses, and governments, which makes destination management a highly complex area of study. This module aims to develop students' ability to critically explore and evaluate the key principles and characteristics of destination management. It aims to explore the essential components of destination management, including stakeholders and partnerships, governance structures, leadership, event strategies, sense of place, and performance evaluation. Students are provided with the opportunity to apply destination management theories to practice as the incorporation of real-world national and international cases represents a key component of this module.

Module provider

Surrey Hospitality & Tourism Management

Module Leader

MORGAN Nigel (Hosp & Tour)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

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

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

N/A

Module content

The roles and responsibilities of DMOs and convention bureaux
Governance structures, leadership, and resilience
Stakeholder engagement and partnerships
The role and operation of events in destination management
MICE and mega events in destination management
Event bidding, management, operations, and strategies
Responsible and sustainable destination management
Reputation and risk management
Marketing and development
Performance evaluation measures
Trends and challenges for destination management

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

N/A

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of wide range of issues in destination management.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Assignment - individual report, max 2500 words (addressing LO 1,2,3,4) In this report, students will need to apply and critique the theoretical knowledge they have gained in the module to critically examine a particular destination.

Formative assessment: Students will be given tasks and case studies during seminars, which support their overall learning and their summative assessment.

Feedback: Students will receive feedback on their performance during the module in the form of written and verbal feedback in seminars to inform the summative assessments.

Module aims

• To develop students critical appreciation and understanding of the key principles, concepts, and strategies relevant to destination management
• To enable students to think strategically about the roles of stakeholders and partnerships in destination management
• To encourage students to understand how events relate to destination management
• To critically discuss the facilitators of and inhibitors to successful destination management
• To develop students problem-solving abilities and skills to research dynamic destination management issues using appropriate academic and industry source material.
• To develop students creativity and evaluation and analytical writing skills.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to: provide students with key information about the various impacts, evaluation, and management of destination management to encourage them to explore, debate and evaluate these challenges. The learning and teaching strategy is designed to develop students' cultural awareness, digital literacy, confidence, and competence in leading and working with others, communication skills, employability, and professionalism.

The learning and teaching methods will consist of blended, guided and independent learning. More specifically this will include, Lectures and guest lectures designed to provide a framework of knowledge; Seminars (with case study exercises) to provide opportunities for students to gather and interpret their own material; and Tasks to challenge their thinking. Students may also undertake site visits to a destination and/or event location to analyse the potential challenges it faces.

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: MAN3230

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 all of these and the following capabilities in particular:

Resourcefulness and Resilience Sustainable and buoyant destinations need to focus on connectivity, amenities, and events and experiences. They will be critical to human flourishing in the mid-twenty-first century and must embrace responsibility, resilience, and innovation. Resourcefulness and resilience will thus be a thread running through the module and content will include leadership, partnership, and resilience in destination management. In addition, the module will provide the students themselves with opportunities to further develop these skills, as they learn in and contribute to the workshops and reflect on their own experiences and problem-solving abilities.

Sustainability Sustainability is central to this module. Successful destinations are evolving to focus on responsibility and experience. Creativity, collaboration, and innovation must be at the heart of contemporary destination policy and planning as key drivers of sustainable prosperity and well-being and a more responsible use of natural resources. The lectures and workshops will give students the opportunity to explore many dimensions of sustainability, including the UNWTO sustainable tourism strategies.

Global and Cultural Capabilities Destination Management by necessity requires international and cross-cultural perspectives. The module workshops will provide students with the opportunity to study international case studies of destination strategies and event strategies, and to understand diverse perspectives. In addition, the workshops will require students to work in groups with other students from diverse backgrounds. This will broaden their world view, challenge their perspectives, and enhance their understanding of the values, norms, and behaviors, which exist in other cultures. There may be a small cost of £20-30 to visit relevant sites/destinations.

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.