Events, Tourism and Hospitality Management modules

Module overview: This module familiarises students with the complexities of tourism both as a social phenomenon and as a field of study. Students are guided through the complex dimensions of tourism through innovative approaches to learning based on reflections and personal experiences. The module focuses on the inter-connections between topical and controversial themes which underpin tourism and its sociological dimensions. These include: evolution of tourism to the present day; stakeholders; power; ethics and impacts of tourism. The module provides students with an appreciation of the key components of tourism. This will facilitate the development of critical thinking and an appreciation of the links between topics within the module and with other modules across the semesters.     

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: The travel and tourism industry is a service industry and often framed as a ‘people industry’. Tourism is produced and consumed by ‘people’ and, as a global phenomenon, results in different types of encounters within a vast array of destinations and cultures. Such social geographies are at the heart of this module while students explore cultural diversities and ethical frameworks, as well as assess their own cultural disposition and underlying ethics as a tourist, resident, and worker within the tourism industry. The concepts of cultures and ethics will build the foundation for understanding tourists’ motivation and behaviours and impacts on host communities that result from tourism encounters. 

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: This module provides students with a comprehensive introduction to the wide-ranging and inter-related elements that make up the contemporary, global tourism industry.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: Management and employees are a fundamental component of the tourism industry. Employees help shape and crucially deliver the tourism experience to consumers, and management both manage resources and may lead organisations. This module will equip students with an understanding of the roles and functions of management and employees. It also introduces the idea that management and employees may view organisations from different perspectives and that this in turn is informed by the organisational context.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module provides students with an insight into the fundamental principles of marketing and how these are used to communicate the tourism experience to different audiences or market segments. Marketing pervades almost every aspect of day-to-day life and students will already have been exposed, as consumers, to the broad range of tools and approaches used to convince them to purchase trips to specific destinations. In this module students will explore marketing from the perspective of commercial providers and from destination marketing organisations and will gain an appreciation of how effective marketing communications can be in influencing consumer decision-making.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: The tourism experience is at the heart of the travel and tourism phenomenon. From a tourist perspective, the prospect of having an enjoyable experience influences their travel decisions and product choices. Living in an experience economy, we have to understand how tourists’ self-identities and socio-cultural contexts influence their desire for a quality tourism experience. From an industry perspective, it is vital to understand what shapes and drives demand in specific products and services, and more importantly what are the key aspects of their development and delivery. The module therefore will explore aspects of service and product development as well as delivery, which are influenced by demand and supply, push – pull factors, packaging and design, service quality, and the interpretation of tourism experiences.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: The module critically appraises the planning, development and management of international tourism destinations. It develops students’ abilities and skills to understand and analyse the social, political, economic, and environmental contexts within which destination management takes place at international and national, regional and local levels. The different aspects of destination management is considered and evaluated in the context of diverse political, environmental, community and commercial interests. The module relates concepts, theories and models of sustainable tourism development to the processes of policy development, planning and the management of impacts of tourism within diverse tourism destinations.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: This module builds upon students’ knowledge of destination management, trends and the tourism industry developed in Level 4. It provides students with a deeper understanding of entrepreneurship, innovation, business planning and operations within the tourism industry, through the context of entrepreneurial practice within a destination.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: This module introduces students to the constantly changing nature of the tourism industry with a specific focus on emerging forms of tourism. An analytical approach will be adopted to gain an understanding of the key drivers that affect change within international tourism. The module will enable students to identify and critically reflect on the implications of these changes for stakeholders within the tourism sector.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: This module will develop students’ understanding of market research, academic research and consultancy projects in tourism. Students will focus on research processes, project management and time management. As such, the module offers a foundation in tourism research that will be valuable for placement projects, dissertations and applied business research.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module explores the potential risks, threats and unforeseen events that can impact on tourism businesses. These might include factors such as economic & social change; climate change & extreme weather events; armed conflict & terrorism; migration & forced human trafficking and resource scarcity. As a result of detailed examination of how the travel industry has responded to such challenges in the past, the module will develop students’ knowledge and awareness of how international tourism business can respond to such negative impacts with a planned and well-managed approach. As such, the module draws on literature on risk management and crisis recovery as well as ethical decision-making, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and standard business planning.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module builds upon knowledge of organisational management and the tourism industry developed in Level 4. It provides students with a deeper understanding of operational management and business planning within the tourism industry, through the creation of an internationally located holiday product.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module provides students with an understanding of the breadth of marketing and communications functions in the tourism sector. The module explores consumer behaviour and consumer decision making, and exposes students to academic theory regarding the planning and delivery of marketing and communications. Digital communications and social media are looked at in detail, and students will gain an appreciation of the importance of using effective marketing and communications channels to reach selected consumer groups.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module will develop students’ understanding of market research and the broader principles of academic research in tourism and marketing. Students will focus on research processes, project management and time management. As such, the module offers a foundation in tourism marketing research that will be valuable for placement projects, dissertations and applied marketing and business research.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module provides an enlightened and pragmatic understanding of pre and post purchase consumer behaviours so that students can create and deliver successful hospitality marketing initiatives as well as develop and deliver irresistible, memorable and communicable hospitality products and services. Practically, the module is designed to develop student problem solving abilities so that students can bring a variety of inductive, deductive and abductive reasoning techniques to bear on improving consumer experiences and marketing initiatives. Academically the module is intentionally eclectic and draws on the disciplines of psychology, sociology, social anthropology, ethnography, marketing, behavioural economics and neuroscience so that students can understand and demonstrate how hospitality consumers acquire, use, experience and discard a variety of hospitality products and services and how they respond to marketing initiatives. Ethically the module develops a fundamental, applied understanding of moral and ethical principles so that students are always obliged to develop and deliver hospitality products, services and marketing initiatives in a responsible, moral and ethical way.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: This module will enable students to understand the origins of hospitality and hospitableness. The module explores the meaning of hospitality and how the hospitality industry has evolved from hosting guests to becoming businesses which provide food, drink and accommodation, offering personalised service, interconnected cultural experiences and infotainment in a socially responsible sustainable manner. This module will also explore the diversity of the sectors, from small to multi-million-pound businesses within those sectors, and consider how these businesses operate efficiently and effectively to achieve success now and in the future.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: The module is concerned with profitability and as such will introduce students to the key financial documents used by hospitality businesses. It will emphasise the need to analysing them using performance and efficiency ratios, and other forms of analysis. Students will be actively encouraged to bring in examples from the businesses they work in to discuss and debate. There will be case studies to bring the information to life and the module will have close links to industry to involve students in real life examples.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module encourages students to develop an academically informed pragmatic understanding of how to design the structures and develop the cultures of a variety of hospitality organisations so that employees’ behaviours are coordinated to enhance and maintain the efficient and effective day to day operation of the unit. Academically the module introduces students to a variety of psychological, social psychological and sociological theories and a variety of organisation design theories so that students understand how the structure and culture of an organisation impacts on employee behaviours and how employee behaviours impact on the organisation design. Practically the module will develop the understanding required to enable senior managers to create, develop and maintain an organisation structure and culture that encourages, coordinates and facilitates efficient and effective employee behaviours. Ethically the module develops a fundamental, applied understanding of moral and ethical principles so that students are always obliged to develop organisation structures and cultures that impact on employee thoughts, emotions and behaviours in a responsible, moral and ethical way.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module will explore the history, knowledge, key theories and principles relevant to the responsible management of food and beverage operations. Using examples from industry and the latest research students will consider a variety of external factors affecting operations management including sustainability, public health, and food security. How hospitality organisations adopt responsible and quality driven approaches to managing their procurement, supply, storage, production, service and disposal of consumables will be an underlying theme. The module will give students the ability to identify and consider a range of responsible methodologies used by successful hospitality organisations to manage their supply chain. Students will be expected to demonstrate how these contemporary approaches can contribute to the efficient, effective and overall performance management of food and beverage organisations.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module will: Enable students to apply International Accounting Standards in the production of financial statements. To facilitate an evaluation of accounting standards in the context of accounting concepts and the qualitative characteristics.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: In this module students will examine the concepts of service operations and quality management and will be able to evaluate their contribution and influence on both traditional and contemporary issues influencing consumers’ hospitality experiences. The ability to perform this evaluation will ensure students are able to facilitate continuous improvements in a company’s performance which will ultimately lead to business success.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: Communicating with consumers to influence their behaviour is a major priority for any hospitality business. Managers are required to communicate with their target market, before, during and post consumption using traditional and online media channels. This module will address the many ways that communication is possible in the hospitality industry today - both theoretically and practically. Students will have the opportunity to explore effective communication strategies and tactics to influence consumers to engage with hospitality businesses and share their experiences with the hospitality business and other consumers.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: The module will encourage students to learn about the recruitment, selection, training and development of human resources in the hospitality industry and to be able to decide which methods are appropriate for the effective and responsible management of labour. This module will enable students to be critical and questioning of the literature and current industry practice.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: This module will develop students’ understanding of research methods within the context of hospitality management. Students will learn about research methods and will be introduced to philosophical principles before developing a research project. Module content will include research processes, project management and time management. As such, the module offers a foundation in hospitality that will be valuable for placement projects, dissertations and applied business research.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module considers theories of management and leadership so that students can analyse and examine a variety of situations to understand how hospitality managers should engage with employees to achieve objectives. Management and leadership theories are explored through an in-depth analysis and examination of a variety of relevant concepts, theories and research findings, before student develop leadership speeches based on a range of recognised ancient and contemporary rhetorical techniques. The module also encourages students to analyse and examine moral and ethical principles associated with leadership and management to inform responsible decision making as future leaders and managers.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: The purpose of this module is to develop financial decision making from the perspective of sustainability, corporate social responsibility and the triple bottom line. By the end of the module students will understand how they can use their financial resources to make decisions to sustain a hospitality business and ensure it is managed responsibly over both the short and long term. Students will learn how to develop and use decision models and build financial scenarios to make informed decisions and to measure the balance of environmental, social and financial performance. 

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module challenges students to create and develop a competitive strategy that can produce a level of performance that generates enough competitive advantage for a hospitality business to survive and prosper for long enough to their give stakeholders the best chance of achieving their long-term goals and purposes. Academically the module begins by developing a general meta-strategy which can be used to inform the creation and development of a specific competitive strategy. The module encourages the critical analysis, evaluation and synthesis of a variety of strategic concepts, theories and research from strategic planning, strategic organisation, strategic management, leadership and entrepreneurship. Practically the module introduces students to a range of tools and techniques that help improve strategic decision making so that strategies can be created, implemented and continually developed and improved. Ethically the module asks students to utilise an ethical approach to strategic decision making that is based on a critical analysis and evaluation of a variety of ethically informed approaches to strategic decision making. 

• Level: 6
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: Only available to students on an integrated masters courses (EU)
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: Places and spaces around the world are known for their cultural association with authentic, inherited, and emerging food and drink offerings. This module, therefore, will enable students to understand the importance of the strategic management of the hospitality industry, and its associated stakeholders, in the creation and presentation of food and drink places and spaces. The module begins by introducing the concept of the hospitality industry’s role in strategically creating food and drink value for places and spaces; be they countries such a France, Mexico or Thailand, or regions such as the Champagne Region, and cities from London to New Orleans or Marrakesh. The module will then explore and explain the management, marketing and imagery of food and drink places and spaces. The final part of this module will review the sensory experiences and pleasures that consumers seek from the food and drink in specific places and spaces. The module will enable students to discover the importance of food and drink in countries, regions and cities and establish how stakeholders and the hospitality industry manage food and drink as an economic driver. This module will also address several perspectives from the management and marketing spaces and places and the motivations and experiences sought by consumers.

• Level: 6
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: Only available to students on an integrated masters courses (EU)
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module encourages students develop an academically informed understanding of the conceptual and practical features of corporate social responsibilities including ethical governance, environmental issues and ethical practices within society. Practically, this module will encourage students to engage and grow; with social responsibilities at the heart of business culture for the benefit of their stakeholders. Students will also be asked to critically review why and how businesses consciously develop their engagement in socially responsible strategies for the ultimate benefit of their stakeholders. The module enables students to engage with a range of skills required to successfully develop responsible hospitality businesses and knowledge required by managers operating in the private, public and third sector; particularly as the module is designed to introduce students to responsible and ethical business practices and the skills needed to plan and manage these types of businesses. 

• Level: 6
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: Only available to students on an integrated masters courses (EU)
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: In this module students will take an integrated view of the core aspects of marketing theory within an events context and build upon this foundation by blending the concepts of innovation, creativity and event design to support a coherent brand message. In order for students to do so they will research distinct event markets and seek to understand event audiences with a view to creating value for a distinct event product. The module will seek to critically blend academic rigour including aspects of creativity, analytical and critical skills.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: The discipline of planning is a core skill for event management. As events are one-off occurrences it is vital, in advance, to consider how they will be delivered in a systematic manner. As a result event planning has developed into a sophisticated area of management and there are many planning models that have been devised to provide a structure through which this thought can happen. This module will use these planning models to provide a framework through which the student will investigate how events are conceived, designed, controlled, delivered and evaluated

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: The purpose of this module is to examine the development of the events industry, looking closely at the past, present and future of the industry. A full range of sectors within the industry will be covered. Students will explore the societal factors that have influenced the development of the events industry and, conversely, how events have also shaped society. The module will explore the cultural origins of modern day events taking sociological, historical and political perspectives whilst also considering the impacts of events. Lastly, future industry trends of the events industry will be explored.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: The purpose of this module is to introduce the principles of management of events organisations. The module will explore topics such as organisational goals and objectives, leadership, team building, organisational structure and cultural, motivation and delegation. External factors, such as CSR and stakeholders, which influence the management of an event organisation. This module enables students to examine and identify the key theories and principles of managing event organisations and provides them with required skills and theories to manage people and projects, group dynamics, and bureaucracies, as well as compare and contrast public versus private sector organisations. This module also equips students with skills of self- reflection on practice and employability.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: This module identifies how different organisations come together to produce events that are both safe and legally compliant. It introduces the concept of risk and how the process of risk assessment is used to identify and mitigate the potential hazards that events can impose on workers, participants, attendees and the public. The module will identify key health and safety legislation as well as details of resources that can be used to control risk and make events safer; then looks at how the event manager interacts with government and legal bodies to ensure that their event complies with the law.

• Level: 4
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: The purpose of this module is to develop understanding of the requirements of law that relate to the production and management of events. The module reviews of English and International Law and the legal processes which impact on event management. Specific areas of intellectual property and licensing requirements are examined in detail. Legal enforcement mechanisms and strategies for compliance will also be considered. Students will explore the processes for the establishment of an events management organisation as a legal entity. They will examine the requirements for the employment of staff and the forming of legal relations with contractors, clients and other stakeholders.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: This module sets out to examine the psychology and sociology of event consumption through a rigorous investigation of consumer experience. This will be supported by exploring consumer behaviour theory in particular both rational and emotional decision making. This will be then used to provide information that supports the informed choices of the marketer seeking to influence the cognitive and conative decision making processes of the current or prospective event attendee. Such influences on identity, consumption and decision making should be of particular interest to the event manager. Contemporary trends within marketing such as experiential marketing techniques and affective communications will be explored alongside an investigation of the science of creativity and persuasion, and how these can create added value to the events we deliver. 

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: A full range of equipment and events examples will be considered throughout the 12 weeks, enabling students to understand and, to an extent, experience the full event production process. Event production in diverse areas of the events industry will be explored. The focus being very much upon developing an understanding of the practical specialist areas that are involved in events, such as Power, Staging and Structures, Sound, Lighting and Special Effects. This will enable students, as future event professionals, to respond to event production challenges. The emphasis upon the safe and legal use of event equipment, hardware and working with specialist staff will be coupled with the need for the imagination necessary to produce truly memorable events that fulfil or exceed stakeholders, participants and audience expectations. Particular hazards and problems that can arise in each ‘event space’ type will be both highlighted and examined in depth. The importance of the event production team and a full appreciation of specialist staff will be developed. This is both in terms of understanding their requirements and the specialist terminology they use and what is entailed in managing their work.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: The purpose of the module is to develop understanding of the nature of work in the events industry and its implications for effective Human Resource Management (HRM). It will introduce best practice HRM as well as exploring current debates in a number of key workforce management areas relevant to the events industry. The module also looks at ways of leveraging individual and team performance whilst ensuring workers are treated fairly.

• Level: 5
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: None
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: Event management and event studies are both relatively young fields. They are both currently going through a significant period of evolutionary change. The events industry does not exist in a vacuum and the changing external global environment has had many and varied impacts on its development. An understanding of these factors and how they impact on the development of the industry is vital to the success of event organisation. In this module, students will be expected to undertake self-directed research and present critical arguments and discussions in formative and summative work relating to the future development of events. Students will be expected to adopt a more critical and analytical approach and show the interrelationships and synergies between Level 6 topic areas.

• Level: 6
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: Only available to students on an integrated masters courses (EU)
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: Venue operations management is the co-ordination and control of all resources within the event space to produce an optimal outcome. This will include an understanding of operational resources as well as an awareness of design, quality and sustainability issues. The module will develop practical and applied knowledge through the use of authentic case-studies and event documentation. Students will also evaluate the material from a strategic viewpoint and be able identify and incorporate current and future issues relating to venue management.

• Level: 6
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: Only available to students on an integrated masters courses (EU)
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: In this module students will take an integrated view of the internal and external factors that impact upon event organisations. They will research into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an event company and apply their analysis to the creation of future strategic choices. Within those analysis and strategic choices students will focus upon key business priorities such as finance, HR and marketing. The module will fully test students’ analytical and critical skills.

• Level: 6
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: Only available to students on an integrated masters courses (EU)
• Module semester: Semester 2

Module overview: The purpose of the module ‘Policy and Politics of Sports Events’ is to provide students with a critical understanding of the complex relationship between government, policy, sport and sports events. Students will be made aware of the main political ideologies and their approaches to sport in the UK. Students will be introduced to the complex relationship between government and sport and they will be able to identify how each can positively and negatively impact upon the practices of the other. They should be able to identify the main political and socio-cultural issues concerned when planning, implementing and evaluating these events.

• Level: 6
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: Only available to students on an integrated masters courses (EU)
• Module semester: Semester 1

Module overview: The purpose of the module is to provide students with a critical appreciation of the fundamental strategic objectives required when delivering a sporting event. This will also extend to the students identifying and evaluating the mechanisms for measuring such concepts. Students will develop knowledge of the importance of analysing impacts and legacies of sporting events in relation to short, medium and long term planning. Theoretical frameworks for impact evaluation will be critiqued along with the practical application of such tools.

• Level: 6
• Module credit points: 20
• Pre-requisites: Only available to students on an integrated masters courses (EU)
• Module semester: Semester 2