TOURISM PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT BA Honours
Course summary
The Tourism Planning and Management BA focuses on the planning, development, management, and regeneration of destinations.
Tourism continues to be a major component of the global economy and has now become an established academic discipline, with roots in geography, economics, sociology, planning and business.
The University of Westminster has over 20 years of expertise in tourism education and research, and we are consistently ranked as one of the top universities for teaching quality and research output in the discipline. Our long history, dating back to the 1830s, includes a significant association with the early years of tour operating in Europe, and with the Olympic Games held in London in 1908 and 1948.
Located in the heart of London, we offer an unrivalled and stimulating environment in which to study tourism. We have close links with partner universities in Australia, the USA, Hong Kong and Malta, which in the past have given several students the opportunity to study abroad for one semester.
You can choose to take part in an optional year-long work placement module between years 2 and 3 (Levels 5 and 6). This is a further opportunity to enhance your transferable skills, commercial awareness and professionalism – increasing your future employability in the tourism sector.
This course is recognised by the Tourism Management Institute (the UK’s professional organisation for destination management) for the excellence of its content and is delivered in collaboration with our Department of Planning and Transport.
Career development
All of our students, no matter which tourism course they take, come away with a good grounding in tourism from a theoretical and practical perspective.
We take a policy-oriented approach, drawing on issues of strategy and planning, which means you'll be well-suited to work in planning and strategic roles in your future career.
Industry links
We have a well-established network of professional links throughout London, the UK and much further afield. Many of our staff have previously worked in tourism or events, or are still active in the industry (working part-time with us, and part-time in their own businesses).
Students can choose to take part in an optional year-long work placement module between years 2 and 3, enhancing their transferable skills, commercial awareness, professionalism and employability. Those who complete the year-long work placement will graduate with the award "BA Honours Tourism Planning and Management with Professional Experience".
Students can also choose option modules that include work placements.
Job roles
The course prepares you for roles including:
- Health and safety specialists
- Marketing executives and senior marketing executives
- Operations executives
- Passenger service agents
- Planning officers and spatial planning assistants
- Principal consultants
- Product assistants
- Regional commercial directors and planning directors
- Sales and events managers
- Venue managers, operations managers, hotel managers, reservations managers, and guest relations officers
Graduate employers
Graduates of our tourism programmes have found positions in companies including:
- Destination management and tourist attractions: Royal Botanic Gardens, Visit England, London & Partners, Hungarian Tourist Board, Croatian Tourist Board, the National Trust
- Hotels and venues: Edwardian, Marriott, Hilton, Melia, Four Seasons, Accor, M89 Hotel in Milan, Berkeley Group Plc, Cavendish venues
- Transport: British Airways, Japan Airlines, BAA Aviation PLC, Stobart Jet Centre
- Travel agencies: Expedia Group, Oliver's Travels, Youtravel.com, Selina, TUI, TripAdvisor, Cosmos, Hotelbeds
- Bovingdons Catering
- Fircroft
- St Albans City and District Council and Watford Borough Council
Some of our graduates also start their own businesses or progress to further study (Master's and PhDs).
My name is Kavisha Prince Anthony, and I always had a dream of studying abroad. Thankfully, that dream came to life since I applied to the Study Advisor. I was able to receive my visa within four days. I also had some visa refusals in the past; I had about six UK visa refusals in the past, but thankfully, it was not an issue since the Study Advisor was able to make things work this time. I highly recommend Study Advisor for your dreams of going abroad, whether it be the UK or any other European country there is.