Main topics of study:

The Place:

• Inhabited Places
• What Makes a Place?
• Population Growth
• Natural Characteristics
• The Built Environment
• The People & the Patterns of Life
• The Economic Situation
• Political Standards & Systems
• Historic & Artistic Characteristics
• Media, Entertainment & Recreation
• International Links
• Pace of Change
• Urbanisation
• Places Are Unfinished

Tourist Destinations:

• A Destination
• Domestic Market Foundations
• Visitors
• Types of Destination
• Purposes of Travel
• General Interest Tourism
• Special Interest Tourism
• Special Interest Focus & Purpose
• Business & Professional Travel
• VFR, Health, Religious & Other Travel
• The Destination & its Three Stages
• The Destination as a Marketing Mix

Visitors:

• An Initial Framework
• Travel Motivations
• What Competes?
• Ego Benefits
• Popular Culture & Mass Tourism
• The Tourism Product Includes Other Tourists
• Tourism Communities
• Visitors’ Interpretation
• Not Meeting, Meeting or Exceeding Expectations
• Visitor Surveys

Product:

• From Destination to Tourism Product
• The Total Product
• Product Components
• Diversification
• Change
• Space
• The Intangibles
• Accommodation
• Predominant Features
• Completeness
• The Marketing Mix

Accommodation:

• Types of Accommodation
• Size & Characteristics of Units
• The Accommodation Product
• Project Feasibility
• Factors Influencing a Destination’s Accommodation
• Shaping a Destination’s Accommodation Mix
• The Role of Tour Operators
• A Commodity
• The Hotel Room as a Commodity
• The Health of the Hotel & Accommodation Sector

Transport:

• Access
• Change
• The Travel Marketing Mix
• International Links
• Road Transport
• Railways
• Air Transport
• Marine Transport & Inland Waterways
• Visas & Facilitating Entry
• Key Transportation Points

Cycles:

• Cycles in General
• Product Life Cycles
• Tourist Destinations Can Fall Away
• Changeability
• Proximity to Major Markets
• Obsolescence
• Staying Alive

Market Research:

• The Objectives of Market Research
• The Business Climate
• Structure & Complexity
• Desk Research
• Intelligence
• Visitor Surveys
• The Performance of the Tour Operators
• Information Systems
• Disseminating Information
• Evaluating Results

Image:

• The Image of a Destination
• The Core Image
• The Brand-Image
• Ethos
• The Contemporary Viewpoint
• Setting the Tone
• Romance, Familiarity & Intimacy
• Sign Systems
• Fiction & Reality
• Other Ideas of Reality
• The Unfinished Image

Price:

• Prices & Tourism Receipts
• Tourism’s Economic Impact
• Leakage
• Reducing Leakage
• Elasticity of Demand
• Price Related to the Image
• Currency Exchange Rates
• The Euro
• Anti Trust & Monopoly Controls
• Two-Tier Pricing
• Yield Management
• Key Pricing Criteria

Positioning:

• The Importance of Positioning
• The Positioning of ‘Classics’
• Formulating the Marketing Mix Range
• The Positioning Matrix

Promotion:

• Where Does Promotion Fit In?
• What Does Promotion Consist Of?
• Public & Private Sector Roles
• Public & Private Sector Disharmony
• The Different Levels of Promotion
• Joint Public & Private Sector Approaches
• Indirect Promotion
• The Promotional Budget

Governance:

• Looking at Governance
• Managing the Tourism Sector
• Approaching Tourism Sector Management
• The Role of the Government Tourism Administration (GTA)
• Words & Concepts
• Tourism Development Planning
• Consensus Building
• Involvement, Participation & Change

Sales:

• Forecasting
• Selling Tourism
• Facilitation
• The Product on the Travel Agent’s Shelf
• The Tour Operator’s Catalogue or Brochure
• Consumer Protection
• Reservations Systems
• The Retail Travel Agency
• Checking the Retail Network
• Airlines
• Selling Business & Convention Tourism
• The Speed of Sales Decisions

Management Tools:

• The Relationship Between the Public & Private Sectors
• Different Ways of Seeing - Types of Approach
• Using the Tools
• Public Awareness
• A Sector-Wide Training Programme
• Developing the Destination

Regeneration & Re-engineering:

• Cycles & Positioning
• Future Development
• Improvement Opportunities
• Modifying Markets & Repositioning
• Tourism Policy
• The Degree of Development
• Incentives
• Listing the Projects

Expansion:

• Planning as Part of Management
• Tourism Planning
• Carrying Capacity
• Investment Promotion
• Investment Workshops
• Facilitating New Investment
• Repositioning Through Expansion
• Expansion Decisions

Quality & Standards:

• Quality & Quality Management
• The Control Cycle
• The International Standards Organisation
• Management Style
• A Question of Values
• Quality Circles
• Tangible & Intangible Items
• Empowerment
• Quality Control & Improvement
• Quality Management Workshops & Other Training Incentives

Legislation:

• A Legislative Framework
• All Sectors of Society
• Registration, Licensing, Classification & Grading
• Minimum Standards
• Checklist for the Development of Tourism Regulations
• The Right of Appeal
• An Ombudsperson

Physical Planning:

• The Planning System
• Different Planning Levels
• Environmental Impact
• Planning Regulations
• Listed Buildings
• Outdoor Advertising
• Building Regulations

Classification & Grading:

• The Purposes of Classification & Grading Systems
• The Failure of Government-Driven Systems
• Helping the User Choose
• Who Can Operate a Classification and/or Grading System?
• The Difference Between Classification & Grading
• Advisory Services & Training
• The Scottish Tourist Board
• Inspection
• Private Sector Guides

Human Resources:

• The Place of Human Resources Development
• A Human Resources Development Strategy
• Working Conditions
• Future Workforce & Training Needs
• Minimum Standards
• Training Institutions & Programmes
• A National Council for Tourism Education & Training

The Tourism Sector Checklist – Part I:

• Managing the Sector
• The Checklist Approach
• The Structure of the Checklist
• Description of the Destination
• Tourism Policies
• Positioning
• The Marketing Mix
• Visitors’ The SWOT Matrix

The Tourism Sector Checklist – Part II:

• The Tourism Development Strategy
• Human Resources
• The Management Tools
• Organisation & Management

Reading List

Main Text:

The Management of the Tourism Sector – Roger Doswell (ICM/Columbus Publishing)

Alternative Texts and Further Reading:

Tourism: How Effective Management Makes the Difference – Roger Doswell (Butterworth Heinemann)
The Journal of Tourism Management – (Butterworth Heinemann)
The Management of Tourism – Burkart & Medlik (Heinemann)
International Journal of Tourism Management