You are here  Home > MTA Areas of Study > Sustainable Destination Management
Master of Tourism Administration (MTA)
Sustainable Destination Management Concentration
Students who select the Sustainable Destination
Management Concentration focus on the comparative advantage and
competitive positioning of tourist destinations characterized
by their commitment to sustainable development principles and
practices. Emphasis in this concentration is placed on minimizing
the negative impacts of tourism and preserving cultural and natural
resources, while optimizing tourism's overall contribution to
economic development in host communities. Go to the link below for a brief overview of sustainable destination management.
Please refer to following figure for an overall description of
the MTA core, concentration, elective and capstone requirements:
Objectives
- Prepare graduates for professional positions with destination-focused tourism organizations at the national, regional, state and local levels (While most of these organizations are concerned mainly with destination marketing, there appears to be an emerging interest in cultural heritage tourism and ecotourism capacity building at the local levels in recent years).
- Instruct students in basic concepts of sustainable development as related to tourism products and services.
- Assist students in developing destination management competencies in cooperative marketing, development finance, policy analysis, and how to apply good practices at the community level (sustainable development, public/private partnerships and organizational models, collaborative stakeholder planning, and impact analysis/mitigation techniques).
- Provide students with opportunities to gain practical experience through career portfolio development and formal internship programs.
Important Role of Destination Management Organizations (DMOs)
According to the UNWTO Business
Council, the current trend in almost all regions of the world is
towards semi-public but autonomous tourism organizations involving
a partnership with both private sector and regional and/ or local
authorities. Over the last decade, as far as travel and tourism
is concerned, the roles and responsibilities of governments as well
private sector and society in general have significantly changed
from the situation where the state had the key responsibility for
tourism development and promotion to a world where the public sector
is obliged to reinvent itself by relinquishing of its traditional
responsibilities and activities in favor of both provincial/ state
and local authorities indicating the growing influence on the behavior
of governments and business in general.
The trend towards decentralization of tourism management and promotion
as well as towards public-private sector partnership, according
to the UNWTO Business Council, have raised the need for new, flexible
and multi-disciplinary approaches to destination management. In
terms of definitions, a destination is geographical space (or a
cluster) in which the entire tourism experience takes place. Although
national policies normally encourage tourism competitiveness, an
efficient collaborative partnership involving key stakeholders is
needed to enhance a destination's attractiveness, marketability,
sustainability and service quality.
Required Courses (14 Credit Hours)
| 250 |
Administration of Tourism and Hospitality Services (2) |
| |
Organization and management concepts, theory, and issues, stressing application through analysis
of case examples drawn from the tourism and hospitality industry.
Prof. Hawkins (Fall) |
| |
| 260 |
Tourism Development (3) |
| |
Relationship of economic theory and planning principles to tourism development; application
of pre-feasibility analysis to tourism projects. Prof. Christie (Fall) |
| |
| 261 |
Tourism Planning (3) |
| |
Integrated planning for
tourism organizations; development of comprehensive tourism
projects; consideration of basic concepts, approaches, and
models. Prof. Christie (Spring) |
| |
| 262 |
Tourism Policy Analysis (3) |
| |
Components of tourism policy, including development of tools for tourism policy analysis and
description of tourism organizations in the government and
private sector. Prof. Smith (Spring) |
| |
| 263 |
Tourism Marketing (3) |
| |
Concepts and techniques employed in marketing travel industry products and services, including its
public- and private-sector components. Assessment of the tourism product, development of marketing
strategy, preparation of marketing plan, and analysis of promotional
programs. Prof. Frechtling (Fall) |
Elective Courses
Using ten semester hours of elective courses, students may pursue an individualized program of study related to a specific career goal. In addition to the courses listed below. Students may also elect to take intensive one credit workshops focused on some aspect of destination management (Pro Poor Tourism, Community-Based Tourism, Case Studies (e.g. Dominican Republic). Through advising students may select electives from the following areas:
The IUCN definition of ecotourism
is "environmentally responsible travel and visitation to relatively
undisturbed natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature
(and any accompanying cultural features - both past and present)
that promotes conservation, has low negative visitor impact, and
provides for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local
populations". Ecotourism is a specialty segment of nature tourism.
Nature tourism has been increasing at an annual rate between 10-30
percent a year. Specifically, areas within ecotourism that students
might focus on include:
- Creating direct links between the economic benefits of ecotourism
and the protection of biodiversity, so that local residents
who earn their living from ecotourism are more likely to protect
their natural resources and support conservation efforts.
- Integration of ecotourism policies into sustainable development
plans and frameworks, land use planning, use of natural parks
and protected areas, balance between development and conservation
objectives in policies, development agency programs on ecotourism
and their role in funding major pipeline investments related
to ecotourism, plans for human resource development in ecotourism.
Career opportunities are in an early stage of development in this
field, including positions with conservation organizations (e.g.
Conservation International, RARE Center for Tropical Conservation,
The Nature Conservancy), protected area management (national parks,
nature preserves, marine parks, among others), ecolodge operations,
ecotourism and adventure travel tour operators, consulting firms,
multilateral/bilateral donor agencies and specialized niche marketing
positions with destination management organizations (DMOs).
| Possible Courses: |
GEOG 230
Environmental Issues in Development or GEOG 222 Resources
and the Environment; BiSi 243 Ecology Seminar; PiPol 201 Public/Private
Policy and Management Processes; Mgt. 216 Cross Cultural Management;
Mgt. 265 International Development for Project Managers. |
Cultural Heritage Tourism
Cultural heritage tourism is a special form of tourism that takes place in numerous venues including tours, festivals, cruises, reenactments, theme parks and the like. Cultural tourism includes museums, art galleries, concerts, and plays, whereas heritage tourism embraces the culture of an ethnic groups-whether it is Native American, Euro-American, African-American, or any of the myriad other ethnic backgrounds present in a region or destination. Cultural heritage tourism professionals frequently work with communities, helping them interpret, express and preserve their special history for visitors. These professionals may be involved in developing cultural heritage sites as well as planning and implementing interpretative programs. Cultural heritage tourism professionals may work with public agencies or non-profit organizations, such as museums and foundations that are interested in promoting cultural heritage preservation through domestic and international tourism. As such, it is important for cultural heritage tourism professionals to have knowledge and skills related to the historic preservation field as well as the business environment, with particular emphasis on marketing. There are also non-profit organizations in communities throughout the world, and particularly museums, which look to specialists in cultural heritage tourism to better manage and market their products and services. Large travel companies as well as non-profits in travel, also have a need for expertise in cultural heritage experts to develop and market cultural heritage tours programs.
| Possible Courses: |
TSTD 290
Management of Heritage Sites; TSTD 277 Event Management; ANTR
222 Anthropology of Tourism; American Studies 277-78 Historic
Preservation: Principles and Methods; American Studies 276:
Politics of Historic Preservation; American Studies; or 275:
Economics of Preservation. |
This area focuses on discerning market
segments, communicating with these target markets, and satisfying
customers' needs to achieve organizational objectives. Emphasis
is placed on marketing research and use of interactive information
technologies in marketing communications. These courses prepare
graduates for careers in marketing in airlines, hospitality, attractions,
destination management organizations, and other components of the
tourism and hospitality industries.
| Possible
Courses: |
TSTD 280
Hotel Marketing and Sales; TSTD 264 Sport Marketing; TSTD
296 Tourism Information Management Systems; IB 266 International
Marketing; MKTG 248 Advertising and Sales Promotion; or MKTG
252 E-Marketing and Commerce. |
Environmental management encompasses
a broad area of inquiry and
practice that involves businesses, governments, and non-profit organizations
in their efforts to protect and promote environmental values, attitudes,
knowledge, behaviors, and outcomes. As one reviews trends toward
the “greening” of businesses and organizations, environmental
management explores global, national, and local environmental public
policy processes, challenges, and outcomes, including global climate
change, international trade and environmental agreements, environmental
security, air and water quality, bio-diversity, and land use issues.
Other focal points of the concentration include:
- An exploration, analysis, and synthesis of the multiple perspectives
on sustainability, at multiple levels, within multiple systems
(societies, businesses, governments, NGOs, communities, households,
and individuals), including sustainable marketing practices.
- The identification, investigation, and evaluation of how environment,
energy, and technology are inter-related, and how these interactions
influence societal policy formulation, implementation, and evaluation
at the international, regional, national, industrial, and organizational
levels.
Career opportunities are highly varied both in sector and level
of responsibility, and range from mid- to upper-level environmental
policy-makers and managers through entry-level environmental researchers
and analysts to environmental entrepreneurs interested in starting
or joining emerging environment-oriented businesses or other organizations.
|
Courses: |
SMPP 210
Strategic Environmental Management; SMPP 290 Sustainability
Values and Strategies; PPOL 207 Environment, Energy, Technology,
or Society; PAd 266/IA 225 Environmental Policy; Geo 221 Geographical
Information Systems. |
Entrepreneurship and Small Business
The development of a destination's potential
involves capacity building in the private sector. Regardless of
the size of the destination, small and medium size businesses (SMEs)
play a key role in development. These businesses serve various purposes
such as providing an entry point to the economic gains for the local
community, help to foster ownership of the destination, provide
the tourist with alternative or support services (i.e. diving, horseback
riding, traditional cuisine, etc) that are not available directly
through the resort. Additionally, SMEs are the key to maintaining
tourism revenue within the destination, as they are more likely
to buy locally and use local infrastructure to develop their product
or service.
|
Possible courses: |
Mgt 291 Entrepreneurship;
Mgt 292 Small Business Management; Mgt 293 New Venture Initiation;
Mgt 294, Strategic Entrepreneurship; FINA 234 New Ventures
Finance. |
Note
Students are encouraged to review course offerings in other departments throughout the university which may also be related to scholarly goals or career objectives. For example, courses focused on development studies are offered by the Public Administration, Anthropology, and International Affairs.
Capstone Requirements
Students in the Sustainable Tourism Concentration may substitute TSTD 214 Consultative Processes for TSTD Applied Strategic Planning. Most students take this course in the summer session combined with TSTD International Experience which involves a consulting project in a foreign country. Students also will complete TSTD 283—a supervised internship related to their career goals
|
