module specification

This module introduces and explores the relationships between tourism as a globally important industry and the concept of a sustainability framework for tourism operating within available ecological and socio economic limits. The module explores the application of sustainability principles to tourism development and operation.

The overarching aim of the module is to ensure that students develop a full understanding of what is meant by sustainability, who decides sustainability principles within tourism and how these principles are applied. It will explore the varied tools and techniques used to apply sustainability principles, by governments, business and communities, and the challenges and conflicts these present.  Such appreciation will be developed progressively via more specific aims:

To situate tourism within the global sustainability debate and evaluate how they influence each other.
To examine  tools and techniques for evaluating the achievement of sustainability within tourism and its management

To analyse the policy framework within which tourism and sustainability operate and interact

The module also aims to assist students in the acquisition of the following skills:
1. Academic reading
2. Researching
3. Problem-solving and decision making
4. Critical thinking and writing
5. Application of knowledge and presenting data

• The evolving concept of sustainable development post -1987 Brundtland Report and its relevance and application to tourism;
• The two-way relationships between tourism and the natural environment, their nature, measurement and evaluation;
• Tourism economics and sustainability;
• The role of business and CSR
• Social and cultural auditing and impact analysis of tourism on destination societies;
• The policy framework; international sustainability-related legislation, policy and control mechanisms on planning and conservation.
• Evaluation of the limits to which sustainability and tourism can be reconciled

Students will learn via a mix of lectures (from guest lectures as well as from the module staff team) and seminars that will include such activities as individual and group exercises, discussion, videos, practical exercises in class and in the field.

Seminars will be designed to consolidate, via practice, material presented in lectures. Lectures will provide the content of the subject while seminars and also private study will provide opportunities for students to reflect on situations and dilemmas presented to them and their own responses to the material presented. 

A field visit to the World Travel Market in week 6 will introduce students to an international showcase of tourism businesses and opportunities to meet key tourism experts and discuss the most current issues and debates the industry faces today. 

Reading materials, data, formative assessment exercises and communication between students and staff will be provided via WebLearn and students will have much opportunity to utilise and enhance their ICT skills. Students will be expected to spend 7 hours per week supplementing the 3 hours per week spent with teaching staff in lectures, seminars and other activities.

On successful completion of this module students will be able to:
1. Express tourism development within the context of sustainability
2. Apply analytical tools in order to assess the extent to which tourism has achieved sustainability in a wide range of contexts and situations
3. Evaluate the relationships between tourism and economic, socio-cultural and environmental parameters

The assessments are designed to test the extent to which students have achieved the learning outcomes and hence the aims of the module. There are three components:

• An in-class test of one hour to assess knowledge and understanding of the key concepts (weighting 30%)
• A group presentation that explores, within a sustainability context, the growth of tourism activities at a specific location (weighting 30%)
• An individual essay on an aspect of managing tourism within the context of sustainability (weighting 40%).

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Castellani V. Sala, S. (2010) Sustainable performance index for tourism policy development Tourism Management Volume 31, issue 6, Pages 871-880
Epler Wood M. (2002) Ecotourism: Principles, Practices and Policies for Sustainability. UNEP & the International Tourism Society.
Hall D. R.  (2006) Tourism and transition: governance, transformation, and development. Springer New York
Hall, C.M. (2008) Tourism Planning: Policies, processes and relationships. 2nd ed. Harlow: Pearson.
Kalisch A. (2002) Corporate Futures: Social Responsibility in the Tourism Industry. London: Tourism Concern.
Krutwaysho, O. Bramwell, B. (2010) Tourism Policy Implementation and Society Annals of Tourism Research, Vol 37, No3pp 670-691
Miller, G. (2001) The development of indicators for sustainable tourism: results of a Delphi survey of tourism researchers. Tourism Management, Volume 22, Issue 4, pp 351-362
Mitchell, J and Ashley, C (2010) Tourism and Poverty Reduction: Pathways to Prosperity.  London: Earthscan
Mowforth, M. and Munt, I. (2009) Tourism and Sustainability: Development, globalisation and new tourism in the Third World. 3rd ed. Abingdon: Routledge.
Newsome, D., Moore, S. A. & Dowling, R. K. (2002)  Natural Area Tourism: Ecology, Impacts and Management. Clevedon, Channel View Publications 
Reid, D.G. (2003) Tourism, Globalisation and Development: Responsible Tourism Planning. London: Pluto.
Sharpley, R. (2009) Tourism development and the environment: beyond sustainability? Routledge London
Telfer, D.J. and Sharpley, R. (2008) Tourism and Development in the Developing World. Abingdon: Routledge.