Course description
Sustainable Tourism: Society & Environmental Aspects
Tourism’s profound impact on the world
Tourism continues to experiencing incredible growth. Of all the industries of major importance worldwide, Travel and Tourism directly contribute $1.4 trillion to the global economy and provides one out of ten jobs and that number is growing.
But tourism is more than just a powerful economic force. Tourist activities come with a host of social and environmental issues at tourism destinations. And return, tourism business itself is highly sensitive to global transformations such as changing consumer behaviour, economic developments, natural disaster, epidemics, or acts of terrorism. Tourism is in fact a complex phenomenon.
Introduction to tourism; an all-round perspective
Instead of taking on tourism education’s customary approach – that of growth driven, applied and hospitality management – join us to explore the tourism industry and build your own reflections. You'll be exposed to a variety of insights throughout the course. These include tourism's historical background and a variety of social science approaches will be looked at, with a special focus on the human geography of tourism.
Upcoming start dates
Suitability - Who should attend?
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites.
Outcome / Qualification etc.
What you'll learn
- How to view tourism as a complex social and environmental phenomenon
- An overview of global tourism development in its historical context
- Ways to distinguish differences in the social study of tourism
- How to conceive of the sheer size and systemic development of tourism
- To analyse mutual relationships between tourism and its environment
Training Course Content
Module 1: Introduction & Overview
What is tourism, and how can you study it from a social sciences point of view?
Module 2: History of global tourism development
Where does tourism come from? We go back in time to understand where our contemporary tourism practices originate.
Module 3: Scientific approaches and systemic observations
What are typical social science approachesto tourism; including behavioral, cultural, and more critical observations? And to what kind of observations do these approaches lead?
Module 4: Key theories and global flows
Take notice of a set of typical theoretical concepts used in tourism studies, and become acquainted with how global tourism developments run parallel with rapidly developing flows of people, goods, technology, information,and capital.
Module 5: Environmental impacts of tourism
Take the main economic, socio-cultural, and environmental interactions and impacts generated by and in tourism.
Module 6: Synthesis and looking forward
Finalize your own argument related to a tourism development of your choice, and become familiar with the science of sustainable tourism.
Course delivery details
This course is offered through Wageningen University & Research, a partner institute of EdX.
5-7 hours per week
Expenses
- Verified Track -$199
- Audit Track - Free