Aim

The aim of this Master course is to offer graduates starting qualifications for independent and/or managerial professions and functions at management and consultancy levels with private, public or non-profit organisations or institutions in the tourism sector. Graduates qualify for professions and functions such as:

International Management positions

• General and Operational Management functions in tourism businesses, like hotels, tour operators, airline companies.

• General Management functions in protected areas that are tourism destinations, like national parks, cultural heritage sites and valuable landscapes.

• Tourism Marketing Management functions in private and public organisations, like destination management organisations, tourism marketing businesses. Analysing (tourism) market trends, implementing strategic marketing plans in cooperation with other stakeholders.

• General and Operational Management functions in the area of development and organisation of tourism destination areas.

International Consultancy positions

• External advisory functions in the area of corporate, financial and organisational development for small, medium or large sized companies.

• Advisory functions for development organisations for tourism related components of development projects.

• Advisory functions in the area of feasibility analysis of investment projects, business strategy and market development projects

• Strategic & policy advisory functions in public and private companies

• Research and policy advisory functions for developments at new tourism destinations

International Policy & Advisory positions in tourism organisations

• (Tourism) Policy development functions in the area of development, organisation and management of tourism destination areas;

• Advisory, policy or management functions in the field of visitor-management in urban areas, theme parks and nature reserves;

• Strategic advisory, policy development, project management and market research functions within tourism branch organisations such as World Tourism Organisation, Pacific Asia Tourism Association, National and regional Tourist Boards and Destination Management/Marketing Organisations

Research positions

• Research functions in the area of (new) market development, market segmentation or market potential in the tourism sector

• Research functions with branch organisations such as WTO, PATA, Tourist Boards and Destination Management/Marketing Organisations.

Entrepreneur

• Business owner in the accommodation, tour operating, transportation or consultancy service sector.

Context

The last decades tourism has developed into a complex phenomenon. It is not only receiving an increased interest from the public and private sector, but also from the academic and consultancy world. Tourism is one of the largest global economic sectors, which encompasses huge amounts of tourists and travellers and generates work and revenues for the destinations. Tourism is important because it influences people and places and in return tourism in itself is influenced by those surroundings.

The essential difference from an economic point of view, between areas of demand (tourists) and supply (destinations) continues and will always lead to a permanent but fluctuating flow of consumers to and from the destination areas. In tourism, as opposed to nearly all other economic goods and services, it is not the goods and services, but the consumers who are ‘distributed’. Without trivialising the role and the importance of the tourist as a consumer, it is clear that the position of the destination areas is becoming more and more important. One of the causes of this is the changing role of operators in tourism in a world, which is becoming increasingly transparent as a consequence of the development of information technology.

The commercial position of tour operators in the areas of origin (tourism markets) is under pressure from an increasingly empowered position of the suppliers of tourism products and services at the destination. It is expected that a shift of power will take place from the tour operators in the market areas towards the operators of tourism products and services at the destination areas.

This shifting balance of power requires knowledge and expertise, which is closely interwoven with the destination areas themselves. This Master in Tourism Destination Management is designed to contribute to this, focusing on Practice, Perspectives and Policies of tourism management at destinations.