Course content

In your first term, you will set up a trend-watching agency with the specific purpose of informing the sector about recent global trends, and how these will affect tourist organisations and companies. You will find out more about the sector, perform research and ensure the financial viability of your agency.
Subject areas: The tourism market, communication, research, project management and economics.

The second term will focus on getting to know the ‘tourist’. This will involve analysing different kinds of tourists and why they travel, as well as gaining insight into their world. You will be required to advise an organisation on how a Chinese tourist should be welcomed in a polite and hospitable manner. To this end, you will study different cultures and learn how to write an advisory report.
Subject areas: tourist behaviour, communication, research, culture and hospitality.

The third term will be devoted to studying various destinations, identifying a particular target group’s needs and wishes and learning more about online marketing. Your assignment will include using social media to promote a certain destination to a specific target group.
Subject areas: destinations, marketing and online marketing and consumer behaviour.

The final term of this year will see you immerse yourself in meaningful action as you investigate the options available to a particular tourist organisation, in terms of generating value creation for clients, staff and society at large. This means you will encourage respect for human beings and the environment, while simultaneously factoring in the organisation’s identity and financial constraints.
Subject areas: tourism, corporate social responsibility, economics and organisational development.

Organisational skills are best acquired through practice, which is why you will be organising an event for an actual client. This will teach you how to manage your target group’s needs and wishes, while simultaneously honing your interpersonal skills, your meeting skills, your communication skills and your ability to work in a structured manner.

It is undeniable that we are part of a global society, meaning fluency in a foreign language has become an indispensable skill. This is why your programme is in English. You will also be able to study Spanish, German or French in the first year (by sufficient enrolment). If you really want to continue afterwards to master a language then choose (after your first year) a suitable internship, study abroad or take a minor to further your fluency.

You bear responsibility for putting together and designing your degree programme. This can be tricky at times but the advantage is that doing so helps you uncover your strengths, talents and weaknesses It goes without saying that you will receive plenty of advice and help in this regard and will be assigned a study career counsellor.

If you enjoy coming up with new ideas and concepts, this course will appeal to you, as you will be designing a concept, or travel concept, for tourists and leisure customers. You will achieve this with the help of innovative tools such as virtual reality apps, personalised apps and robots. You may wish to use your idea to set up your own business or you may prefer to design an innovative concept for an established business. It is entirely up to you! It goes without saying that you will need to prove your idea is financially viable. You will also need to be aware of the latest developments in the tourism sector and be familiar with marketing principles, innovative tools and creative thinking.

This course will focus on responsible tourism. you will be advising organisations facing certain dilemmas, such as helping travel agencies formulate a plan when offering holidays in countries where human rights are an issue, or where the environment and indigenous culture require protection. You will gain a strong grounding in the principles of economic responsibility so that you are able to resolve the types of dilemmas described above.

Also in the second year you will organise an event, but with more opportunity to make your mark on the organisation. You will have more responsibility and freedom to get the event off the ground. You can also take part in creativity workshops to help you make the event as unique and attractive as possible for the guests.

In the first or second semester you will do an internship. We offer a wide range of options that you can choose from. You could stay in the Netherlands, but we have also many business relations in e.g. Australia, Asia, Caribbean, South Africa or Europe. The choice is yours.