About the course

This multidisciplinary course develops your understanding of business and international tourism, with a specific focus on hospitality. It gives you the practical skills you need to take on a management role in this ever-changing, rapidly growing sector.

The course develops your theoretical understanding of the business of tourism while encouraging you to put theory into practice working on real-life briefs and case studies. It puts you at the cutting edge of the industry, facing the challenges of 21st-century tourism: the emergence of new destinations; climate change; and the ethics of managing a business where the prime attractions include the natural environment and local culture.

To start the course, you study the business of tourism and hospitality before moving on to explore areas such as cultural tourism and heritage management; marketing; and tourism and society. Specific hospitality management units may include international hospitality operations; managing service in the hospitality sector; and sustainable development.

The University of Bedfordshire is a member of the Association for Tourism in Higher Education (ATHE). ATHE is the subject association for tourism in higher education in the UK. It represents universities that are leading providers of tourism programmes.

Why choose this course?

• Gain in-depth knowledge of the strategic management of hospitality-related businesses
• Benefit from regular guest speakers from industry, providing insight into your chosen career
• Become a self-directed, self-regulated, reflexive learner, able to plan and manage a project from start to finish
• Work effectively in teams or individually using appropriate professional standards of conduct and behaviour
• Explore a range of potential career options with companies like tour operators, destination management companies, airlines and major hotel chains
• Take the course over four years and include a fee-free year in industry (see below), gaining experience, developing your language skills and building your CV
• If you need to step up into higher education, start with a Foundation Year (see below), which guarantees you a place on the degree course