module specification

‘Exploring Tourism – Narratives of Travel’ is constructed around the range of perspectives through which tourism has developed, is understood and can be studied, as first analysed by Jafari’s (1992) model of tourism studies. Tourism is an area of academic study that incorporates a wide range of other disciplines - yet has developed its own identity. Awareness and appreciation of narratives existing in tourism, allows students to better understand various concepts and interrelations within the industry.

The module provides an introduction to spatial aspects of tourism via regionalisation and tourism geography. Further on, the module explores management, legal and ethical frameworks in which tourism businesses operate and moves onto political economy, planning and development studies impact on contemporary tourism. In the final stages, module incorporates ideas drawn from anthropology, sociology and cultural studies to broaden understanding of multi- and interdisciplinary of tourism.

This broad-based module feeds into subsequent tourism and travel related modules, introducing concepts that will recur and will be expanded upon further in level 5 (second year) and 6 (third year). With an emphasis on a co-creation of knowledge, the module engages students in an exploration of themes and topics that are appropriate to their field of study, and to themselves as learners.

The overarching aim of the module is to provide a comprehensive foundation for studying tourism and allow students to develop an awareness and appreciation of multidisciplinary of their area of study.

In the first semester, the narratives of tourism and travel module will explore the study of tourism geography, including concepts of tourism regionalisation and models of resorts development. Development of tourism in global scale will be presented through the political economy spectrum, particularly development theories and the concept of globalisation.
Four functions of management will be discussed in detail by the means of management frameworks in which tourism businesses operate; tourism policies and planning processes. Organising management functions will include global tourism business operations and operations management in enterprises. Leading function shall be presented using economics of tourism and discuss in more detail concepts such as tourism’s contribution to the national’s and global economy, country’s balance of payments, indirect and induced income and employment, multiplier effect and leakages. Finally, the management function of control will be conferred via chosen aspects of law and ethics, including EU package travel regulation directive, deregulation of aviation, freedoms of air and elements of contract law. Human rights and labour exploitation, mobility and disability will be further discussed with regards to ethics.
Final section of the module turns towards social sciences and includes anthropological concepts of authenticity, ‘the self’ and ‘the other’ and model of tourist gaze. Guest-host relationships will be discussed in the perspective of sociology of tourism. LO1

Each of the eight areas of study: tourism geography, political economy, planning, operations, economy, law and ethics, anthropology and sociology conclude with revision. During these sessions students as peers design their own assessment, providing exam questions with model answers and self-assess their work. LO2

Aim of the module is to develop students as independent learners, hence the focus is set on taking responsibility for own learning, finding and paraphrasing information, and finally on providing model answers that could help colleagues in understanding the topic.
The model of glossary used, allows students to reflect on their learning skills and abilities, act on feedback and improve in time. Variety of topics considered in the curriculum with an apparent potential for team teaching, allows for diverse range of delivery styles.

On successful completion of this module, students will be able to:
1. Recognise and explore key concepts in tourism studies, its meaning, significance and interrelations
2. Develop and demonstrate skills and abilities of independent learner via contribution to learning community and co-creation of knowledge

The assessment aims to develop student’s research skills and independency as learners. In the first assessments, students are required to set up an online glossary where they define (using referenced sources) and explain in their own words newly introduced tourism terminology on weekly basis. Each week, allocated student(s) will be presenting entries from their glossary.
Final assessment requires student to individually design a set of eight questions (one per area of tourism studies), that could be used in an exam to the module assessing module learning outcomes. Once questions are accepted (w27), students choose one of self-designed questions and write a model answer together with self-assessment form.
Assessment tariff alignment: L4 (30 credits) max. 6000 words
• Glossary with 5-mins presentation (4000 words)
• Question pool with model answer and self-assessment (1500 words)
Total word count: 5500 words

Core Text: 
• Lohmann, G. and Panosso-Netto, A. (2017) Tourism theory: concepts, models and systems, CABI.

Journals:
• Annals of Tourism Research
• International Journal of Tourism Research
• Journal of Travel Research
• Tourism Management
• Travel and Tourism Analyst