MSc International Tourism Management

University of Surrey

The dissertation is compulsory to all MSc programmes and is the final element of the programme, providing an opportunity for a sustained period of independent study and research. It allows students to concentrate on topics that are of particular interest to them and it draws upon a range of different aspects of the taught programme particularly the Research Methods module. It also gives an opportunity for students to work independently with individual supervision.

Students taking this module will also be taking the module of Tourism Social Science which provides a social science based theoretical underpinning to their study of tourism. This module explores a variety of perspectives on the functions of management within the tourism industry.

This module is designed to provide students with an understanding of how tourism and hospitality operations function systematically. The systems approach adopted will enable students to critically analyze the interrelationships between systems theory, systems design and systems analysis in tourism and hospitality businesses. This approach will facilitate a critical appraisal of the sustainability and effectiveness of operational types and an evaluation of the potential for improvement. For those students with a background in tourism and hospitality, this module will provide a sufficiently distinct approach for them to gain new insights while offering students without any prior knowledge a framework to facilitate their understanding of new material.

The Research Methods module aims to help students to develop an understanding of the research process and to undertake research leading to successful completion of their dissertation. It enables students to conduct research independently and also provides them with the knowledge, skills and understanding required to develop their proposal for their dissertation. The student identifies their area of research and develops research questions to be answered or hypotheses to be tested in the industry context relevant to their course of study. The module covers ideas, techniques, and methods relevant to different stages of the research process, stressing the interdependence of each stage in conducting effective, coherent and rigorous research. By covering the fundamentals of research methods and research methodologies, this module will enable students to conduct research independently and provide them with the knowledge and understanding needed to do a dissertation.

This module is designed as an introduction to marketing module. The module is divided into two distinct elements, firstly the principles of marketing are covered, and secondly the industry specific application of marketing is analysed. The module also creates an opportunity to facilitate 'real life' decision-making and enhances a wide range of study skills, such as independent research, analytical skills as well as critical thinking.

This module is intended to explore the principles and concepts of tourism from the perspective of social science theories. The module covers a range of social science disciplines with a view to developing students? multi-disciplinary social science approach to understanding the significance and role of tourism in contemporary society.

Visitor attractions are a key element of the tourist experience, as well as being a major part of the day visitor recreation market. This module seeks to identify the principal types of visitor attractions, catering for both tourists and day visitors, the key attributes of each of these attractions and the implications for the management of these attributes.