International Tourism Management (including Foundation Year)

UCAS code: N822

Here's what University of Chester says about its International Tourism Management (including Foundation Year) course.

Explore one of the world’s leading, fast-moving and dynamic industries at one of the UK’s top tourism universities - the best in the North of England, Wales & Scotland (Guardian University Guide 2024).

You will learn from industry experts and academics how places around the world benefit from and manage tourism, how it is marketed and how tourism businesses operate. You will consider the future challenges facing tourism particularly in terms of sustainability. You will gain industry experience to help plan your tourism future.

The course provides you with a broad understanding of international tourism in your first year before exploring more specialist topics in your second and third years when you will also expand upon your own areas of particular interest by selecting optional modules that connect tourism with aspects of events management, marketing or business.

You will have a five-week tourism work placement in your second year and carry out an individual tourism management project that you have designed yourself in third year. These opportunities will help you stand-out when you apply for the job that will kick-start your tourism career.

It is available as a three-year course or as a four-year course with a placement year.

This degree course is accredited by the Tourism Management Institute. We work closely with it and our industry partners to make sure that our modules are always up to date and give you the skills that you will need for future success.

Your transformation from new student to future tourism leader will begin from day one. Your Foundation Year (Level 3) will provide you with a broad subject knowledge base that will introduce you to the key themes and perspectives relating to your chosen degree. You will also develop the academic skills needed to succeed in your degree area, such as academic writing, referencing and public speaking.

In Year 1 (Level 4) you will gain an understanding of the key principles of international tourism management and develop core management skills in areas such as marketing, service experiences, events and entrepreneurship.

In Year 2 (Level 5), you will translate this knowledge into making key decisions and consider the different ways tourism destinations and organisations operate around the world. You will examine how places can plan for and manage the impact of tourism sustainably.

You will start to shape your career path by choosing an aspect of business that inspires you and do a work placement that suits your personal interests and ambitions. Previous students have worked for companies such as Royal Caribbean International and The National Trust as well as exploring sustainable tourism in Costa Rica and South Africa.

If you’d like to broaden your horizons even further, you can undertake an additional year-long work placement in the UK or overseas. This really brings your course to life and may enhance your graduate employment prospects. How does a work placement with the Disney sound? That’s what Hannah Robinson experienced during her time with us and is just one of many great placement opportunities this course provides. You can even spend a year studying International Tourism Management abroad in Europe, North America, Asia or Australasia.

Your final year (Level 6) is then tailored towards giving you the competitive edge you need to succeed in your chosen area of international tourism. You will carry out an original supervised research project investigating a topic which really interests you. Everything you study will be linked to the world of tourism today – exploring contemporary issues topics such as smart destinations, over-tourism and global social issues.

There will be a broad range of assessment methods used throughout the International Tourism Management course so that students are exposed to the different types of task they might encounter in the workplace.

These will include coursework in the form of reports, portfolios of work, presentations (such as pitches and debates, peer assessment, reflective reviews, evaluation reports. In some modules students will encounter class tests and practical assessments. We continuously review the assessment methods used in order that they adequately prepare students for graduate level employment.