Course description
Content
The course is based in the Faculty of the Built Environment and delivered in collaboration with colleagues in the Bristol Business School and the Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences. It consists of eight taught modules which together make up the Postgraduate Diploma. There are seven specialist tourism modules that provide an introduction to tourism and sustainable development and an opportunity to explore in greater detail, each dimension of the so-called 'triple-bottom line' of environmental, socio-cultural and economic sustainability. In addition, there is one research module
Tourism Concepts and Issues
This module aims to expose students to essential knowledge at the forefront of the subject area (pertaining to the meaning and significance of tourism, the internationalisation of tourism, tourism principals and intermediaries, tourist motivations and behaviour and tourism destinations), and engage them with various contemporary issues of relevance and significance (eg health and safety in tourism, tourism and ethics, and the role of new information and communications technologies in the production and distribution of tourism products).
Sustainable Tourism: Principles and Practice
This module adopts a critical and inter-disciplinary social science perspective to the study of the principles and practices of sustainable tourism within the wider context of sustainable development.
Research for Policy and Practice
This module considers: the leading philosophical perspectives associated with the production of knowledge; questions and debates related to the nature, function and conduct of research; main types of research strategy employed in built and natural environment research in general, and in particular disciplines within this area; criteria used when assessing the claims of others, ethical and legal issues in research; and the process of planning and designing research (including research briefs, proposals, strategies, methods of data generation and analysis, literature reviews, etc).
Sustainable Rural Tourism
This module aims to describe the concept of sustainability in the context of environmental tourism management; evaluate the major economic and social factors which influence the environment in tourist destinations; develop capabilities in gathering and interpreting data about tourism environments; and provide an introduction to the design and implementation of tourism development plans at a variety of spatial scales.
Leisure, Tourism and Cultural Policy
This module will provide students with an understanding of the policies and principles that inform leisure, tourism and cultural provision and participation.
Tourism in Local Economic Development
This module seeks to evaluate the economic impacts of tourism and its development potential for local economies. Students use appropriate research techniques for the assessment of the economic impacts of tourism in a local economy (eg multiplier effects and spending leakages, tourism employment, etc). The module also investigates how the public sector can facilitate and manage a more sustainable role for tourism in local economic development.
Tourism Destination Marketing Applications
This module is designed to provide students with an understanding of the implications of the sustainability agenda for marketing resorts, historic towns and rural areas, in the context of government policies for tourism destinations. It will consider how the theory of marketing and associated techniques are mediated in a tourism destination context and will draw on the group experience of students in a given field location.
Visitor Management and Interpretation
Landmark buildings, museums of every variety, rural craft centres and natural landscapes are all examples of visitor attractions. Despite this diversity, each should be concerned with maintaining a sensitive balance between delivering a high quality visitor experience and ensuring that the impact on the resource(s) in question is kept to a minimum. The means of achieving this - visitor management and interpretation - can be an exciting, progressive and subtle art, and an important tool in realising sustainable tourism. Hence, this module aims to facilitate engagement with the relevant concepts and issues within the literature pertaining to visitor management and interpretation, in the wider context of debates on tourism and sustainability.
Students wishing to complete the full Master's must also submit a dissertation of 16,000-20,000 words.
This course will help you develop skills and knowledge which can be applied in a range of international contexts. It may therefore be suitable for international students, and there are opportunities for incorporating material and examples from your home country into your studies, especially in the dissertation.
The modules are regularly reviewed to ensure that they remain up to date and relevant, hence their titles and content may be amended periodically, although the overall aims of the course will remain the same.
Teaching and learning
Modules are generally structured around a series of keynote lectures, supported by a wide range of participative activities (such as case studies and group discussions) designed to facilitate the development of independent learning strategies by students. Learning also takes place in the field and online. Please note that the Tourism Destination Marketing Applications module contains an overseas field trip to an emerging Mediterranean destination, which normally takes place between semesters.
Methods of assessment vary between modules, but typically comprise essays, reports and presentations.
The course is underpinned by the research interests of staff within the Geography Research Unit, which include: changing spatial patterns of tourism at the coast and their causes; critical theory in tourism and leisure; ecotourism in marine and rainforest environments; mobility, migration and new forms of tourism experience; and tourism's contribution to social inclusion/exclusion.
Students will also benefit from the existence of the University's inter-faculty Bristol Group for Tourism Research (BGTR), a forum that seeks to support and develop high quality research and postgraduate training in the subject area. Each academic year, the BGTR organises a seminar series where various external and internal speakers share their latest research findings, to which all students are invited. Prospective students and alumni are also welcome (please contact us for details).
The full-time course involves attendance for 20 two-day blocks over one year, with additional academic support sessions available in between, and the part time course involves attendance for 20 two-day blocks over two years.
The Graduate School
The Faculty's Graduate School was established in 2005. Its main purpose is to foster an active graduate community, encompassing students on postgraduate taught courses and students undertaking research degrees. There are currently around 700 postgraduate students (400 attending and 300 distance learning) on taught courses, and about 40 postgraduate research students. The Graduate School has dedicated space in the Faculty's building on the main campus, with teaching accommodation, a kitchen and informal areas. The work of the Graduate School is based on the Faculty's extensive research programmes, and on the innovativeness and high quality of its teaching. Student advisers for all postgraduate courses are located in the Graduate School Office, and they are your first point of contact if you have any problems or need information. The Student Handbook is also an essential source of information.
You may also use the well equipped laboratories for concrete and environmental services, environmental physics, earth sciences, spatial analysis (including mapping and Geographical Information Systems) and surveying technology, each with specialist technicians supporting both teaching and research. An audio-visual group provides support for photography, digital imaging, filming and sound recording.
The Faculty has invested in online and offline computer-based resources to support modules, and especially those offered by distance learning. You also have access to a vast number of journals and databases online through the Bristol UWE library. The library and some computer labs on campus are open 24 hours, and the Faculty's suite of computer rooms supports software for word processing, data analysis, spatial analysis, computer aided design and other specialist software required by our students
