TM9545 - Contemporary Tourism Management

What will I learn on this module?

This module will provide you with the knowledge and a critical understanding of tourism systems and contemporary tourism management landscapes, principles, and challenges. The module analyses tourism systems as a collection of public and private industries and sectors that work together and apart from one another within ever-changing tourism landscapes. You will develop an appreciation of the operational realities faced by tourism managers within tourism industries and sectors.

The module commences with an overview of tourism systems; including how they interact with one another and are shaped by public policy, organizational and sectoral pressures, changing technologies, and risk management needs in both domestic and international tourism destinations. It addresses key contemporary management challenges impacting on tourism planning and development using real world scenarios to connect operational realities with decision-making and critical analysis skills, and to enhance employability. The module introduces risk and crisis management as a strategic area of concern within industries and examines the impacts of changing technologies and platform economies on tourist behaviours and destinations. The complex relationship between businesses, public policy, labour precarity, risk and crises, and discourses of responsible and sustainable management practices are analysed. You will develop a working insight into the types of issues that you could expect to encounter as a tourism manager from tourism planning and development to responsive action to contemporary risks and challenges.

How will I learn on this module?

The module is delivered to you using three lectures a week and is supported by weekly seminars. The lectures will provide you with the theoretical underpinning of the module content and seminars will give you the opportunity to transfer and apply your knowledge to contemporary case studies and real-life examples.

In order to maximise your learning, pre-reading and exercises will be available on the module’s e-learning portal. In addition, a specially designed E-reading list will provide you with focused contemporary material, including industry reports and academic research to further develop your knowledge of the sector and current practice.

Independent learning time is set aside for learning activities, self-identified by you to gain deeper and broader knowledge of the subject and recommended by the teaching team.

How will I be supported academically on this module?

Support will be provided to you by a member of academic staff leading the module. Summative assessment and support will be given throughout. Your module is supported by an e-learning portal, which will house lecture material, seminar activities, assessment details and study support resources. You will be provided with an electronic reading list that comprises of book section, journal articles and industry reports that will contribute to your understanding of contemporary management practices, principles, and challenges within an ever-changing tourism landscape.

What will I be expected to read on this module?

All modules at Northumbria include a range of reading materials that students are expected to engage with. The reading list for this module can be found at: http://readinglists.northumbria.ac.uk
(Reading List service online guide for academic staff this containing contact details for the Reading List team – http://library.northumbria.ac.uk/readinglists)

What will I be expected to achieve?

Knowledge & Understanding:

• Develop a critical understanding of enduring and emergent management issues (economic and environmental pressures, risk and crises, policy-related complexity, changing technologies, platform economies, customer and community relationships) impacting on professional practice within tourism industries and sectors.(MLO1)

• Demonstrate knowledge of the role, function and structure of global tourism systems and how they interact to support tourism activities in domestic and international destinations.. (MLO2)

Intellectual / Professional skills & abilities:

• Demonstrate a critical appreciation of the importance of research, development, and planning, as well as management principles employed in tourism systems. (MLO3)

• Develop critical analysis and decision-making skills associated with managing complex operational realities and risk across a range of tourism industries and sectors (transportation, accommodations, service industries, tourism operators, local and regional infrastructure and economies, and policy landscapes) (MLO4).

• Develop an appreciation for how tourism management decisions and actions can contribute to more ethical, just, responsible, and sustainable tourism around the globe. (MLO5)

Personal Values Attributes (Global / Cultural awareness, Ethics, Curiosity) (PVA):

• Demonstrate a critical appreciation of the importance of research, development, and planning, as well as management principles employed in tourism systems and dissemination of tourism products. (MLO3)
• Develop an appreciation for how tourism management decisions and actions can contribute to more ethical, just, responsible, and sustainable tourism systems (MLO5)

How will I be assessed?

This module is assessed by 2 pieces of work which are scaffolded to ensures that students can learn from feedback at presentation stage and integrate into final written assessment (i.e., integrating both summative and formative assessment).

The first assessment is a poster presentation worth 20% of the module in which students will identify and present a key area of risk to be managed in tourism systems and will assess MLO1 and MLO3. .

The second assessment will be a written report that will require research and application skills to discuss how the student would manage the risk identified in their poster presentation within a specific tourism setting (industry and destination); this will represent 80% of the total assessment of the module and will assess MLO2, MLO3, MLO4, and MLO5..

Pre-requisite(s)

NA

Co-requisite(s)

NA

Module abstract

This module examines the fundamentals of contemporary tourism management principles and challenges. It will give you the opportunity to examine how tourism systems – a collection of public and private industries and sectors working together and apart – support tourism activities in destinations around the globe. The module will critically examine enduring and emergent management issues within evolving domestic and global tourism landscapes. Key topics will include what tourism systems are and how they interact with one another; managing for tourism planning and development; risk and crisis management; the changing role of technology (both in the organization of tourism and among tourism products); and the impact of platform economies on tourist behaviour and on destinations. The module will engage with real world examples to examine the types of operational realities faced by tourism managers within tourism industries and sectors. Students will develop an in-depth understanding of contemporary management considerations informed by organizational and sectoral pressures (both economic and environmental), public policy direction and complexity, labour precarity, and obligations towards stakeholder (customer and community) relationships.. The module recognises the important contributions of tourism management for more just, responsible, and sustainable tourism outcomes.

Course info

UCAS Code N811

Credits 20

Level of Study Undergraduate

Mode of Study 2 years Full Time or 3 years with a placement (sandwich)/study abroad
1 other options available

School Newcastle Business School

Location City Campus, Northumbria University

City Newcastle

Start September 2026

Fee Information

Module Information

All information is accurate at the time of sharing. 

Full time Courses are primarily delivered via on-campus face to face learning but could include elements of online learning. Most courses run as planned and as promoted on our website and via our marketing materials, but if there are any substantial changes (as determined by the Competition and Markets Authority) to a course or there is the potential that course may be withdrawn, we will notify all affected applicants as soon as possible with advice and guidance regarding their options. It is also important to be aware that optional modules listed on course pages may be subject to change depending on uptake numbers each year.  

Contact time is subject to increase or decrease in line with possible restrictions imposed by the government or the University in the interest of maintaining the health and safety and wellbeing of students, staff, and visitors if this is deemed necessary in future.

 

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