MSc Tourism and Sustainable Development – LM562 (Under Review)

1. 	Introduction

Understanding the relationships between tourism, environment and development has been one of the major objectives of governments, scholars and policy makers worldwide.  Such interests have been driven by the quest for sustainable tourism development in developed as well as developing economies.  This program aims to explore the complex relationships between tourism, the environment and sustainable development, with particular reference to developing countries and small island economies. It provides students with a critical understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of tourism as a form of development and examines its environmental impact, social and economic impacts.  The course is suitable for students who wish to have an understanding of the economic and social contribution of tourism and particularly attractive for those seeking employment in tourism and environmental planning in government, non-governmental and international development agencies.      

2.	Objectives

Upon successful completion of the Programme, students would have acquired the necessary skills to:

•	Understand the intricate relationships between tourism and sustainable development

•	Understand the complexities and dynamics of tourism development in developing and small island economies and the unique characteristics of such economies

•	Appreciate the role of planning and marketing in sustainable tourism development

•	Recognise the growing role of CSR in the promotion of sustainable development

•	Understand and apply environmental laws and regulations to regulate and manage tourism development

3.	General Entry Requirements 
	
As per General Entry Requirements for admission to the University for Postgraduate Degrees.
 
4.	Programme Requirements
	
Candidate should preferably have a degree in either tourism, leisure, recreational management, environmental management, economics, development studies, law or any other relevant undergraduate degrees deem suitable by the University.

Consideration will also be given to candidates who do not meet the Programme Entry Requirements but who have experience in a sector relevant to the program of study.  Such candidates will be assessed on a case to case basis.

5.	Programme Duration

The duration of the Graduate Programme should normally not exceed 4 years.

					Normal	          	Maximum
Master’s Degree (PT):			2 Years			4 Years
Postgraduate Diploma:			2 Years 		4 Years
 
6.		Credits per Semester : Min. 3 credits, Max. 21 credits subject to Regulation 5.

7.	Minimum Credits required for Awards

Master’s Degree:	   36
Postgraduate Diploma:    24
Postgraduate Certificate: 12

	Breakdown as follows:
	              Credits from		
	Core Taught Modules	Dissertation	Electives	TOTAL	
Master’s Degree:	27	6	3	36	
Postgraduate Diploma:	
24	
-	
-	
24	
Postgraduate Certificate	
12	
-	
-	
12	

8.	Assessment

Each module will carry 100 marks and will be assessed as follows (unless otherwise specified):

Assessment will be based on a written examination of 3-hour duration and continuous assessment carrying 30 to 40% of total marks, except for the Methods for Tourism and Environmental Research module where assessment will be based on 50% continuous assessment and 50% on written examination.  

Continuous assessment will consist of at least two (2) assignments per module per year.
 
For a student to pass a module, a minimum of 30% should be attained in both Continuous Assessment and Written Examination separately, with an overall total of a minimum of 40% in that module.

Each module of 45 hours carries 3 credits and each module of 90 hours carries 6 credits.

During Year 2 of the programme, a Residential Seminar may be organised by the Faculty subject to availability of resources.  Students should compulsorily attend and actively participate in the Residential Seminar whenever organised and:

(i)	students will be required to submit a report of not less than 1200 words to their Programme Coordinator after attendance and participation;
(ii)	Seminar attendance and the report shall be assessed by the Programme Coordinator and 
(iii)	Grade ‘S’ assigned upon satisfactory performance in order to be eligible for award of the degree.

Submission Deadlines for Dissertation:

First Draft: End of July in the Final Year.
Final Copy: Last working day of August in the Final Year.

9.	Important Note

The rules as stipulated in the Programme Structure and Outline Syllabus will replace all other rules & regulations.

10.	List of Modules

CORE MODULES
	
Code	Module Name	Hrs/Wk
	Credits	
MGT 6194(Y)	Small Island Tourism: Policy and Strategy	3	6	
MGT 6196	Tourism and Development	3	3	
MGT 6197	Marketing for Sustainable Tourism	3	3	
MGT 6287	Biodiversity and Ecotourism Management	3	3	
LAWS 6286	Environmental Laws and Regulations	3	3	
MGT 6195	Sustainable Development Practices	3	3	
MGT 6288	Corporate Social Responsibility for Tourism	3	3	
MGT 6198
	Methods for Tourism and Environmental Research	3
	3	
MGT 6000(Y)	Dissertation		6	
MGT 6100	Residential Seminar@	-	0	
				
	ELECTIVE MODULES
			
MGT 6289	Environment and Development	3	3	
MGT 6290	E-Tourism	3	3	
MGT 6291	Tourist Behaviour	3	3	

NOTE:

(i)	Modules carrying 3 credits are one semester module and shall be examined at the end of the semester in which it occurs
(ii)	Modules with “Y” in the code modules will be examined yearly 
(iii)	Dissertations carry 6 credits
(iv)	@-Residential Seminar is compulsory if organised

11.	Program Plan – MSc Tourism and Sustainable Development 

YEAR 1
	
Code	Module Name	Hrs/Wk
	Credits

MGT 6194(Y)	Small Island Tourism: Policy and Strategy*	3	6	
MGT 6195	Sustainable Development Practices**	3	3	
MGT 6196	Tourism and Development**	3	3	
MGT 6197	Marketing for Sustainable Tourism***	3	3	
MGT 6198

	Methods for Tourism and Environmental Research***

	3

	3

				
YEAR 2
	
Code	Module Name	Hrs/Wk

	Credits	
MGT 6100
MGT 6287	Residential Seminar@
Biodiversity and Ecotourism Management**	-
3	0
3	
LAWS 6286	Environmental Laws and Regulations**	3	3	
MGT 6288	Corporate Social Responsibility for Tourism***	3	3	
MGT 6000(Y)	Dissertation*	-	6	

	
CHOOSE ANY ONE FROM
			
MGT 6289	Environment and Development***	3	3	
MGT 6290	E-Tourism***	3	3	
MGT 6291	Tourist Behaviour***	3	3	

@ Compulsory if Organised      	
 * Yearly module
** Semester 1 modules
*** Semester 2 modules

12.	Outline Syllabus
MGT 6196 - TOURISM AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduction to tourism; Foundations of tourism demand; The theory of tourism supply and its market structure; Tourism as an engine for growth and economic development strategy; Globalisation and political economy of tourism; Climate change and extreme weather events on tourism; Tourism, Increasing Returns and Welfare Introduction of dependency theory and development economics theories; Tourism imports and leakages; Using Data Envelopment Analysis to Evaluate Environmentally Conscious Tourism Management; BOP and exchange rates; Determinants of Room Price; Entry restriction, liberalized air access, economic benefits and costs of legalized gaming, increased occupancy tax, its effect on the economy, tax base; Strategies to attract tourism investment. 

MGT 6194(Y) -  SMALL ISLAND TOURISM: POLICY AND STRATEGY
Understanding tourism policy; Role of state in tourism planning; Resort, urban and rural tourism policy; Destination life cycle; Stakeholders in tourism planning; Impact of international organization on island tourism development; Crisis management; Pro-poor tourism; Gap between tourism planning and implementation; Overview of tourism in developing countries; Challenges and opportunities; The development process of small island; Characteristics of small islands; Impacts of tourism in small economies; Coastal zone management and tourism development; IRS developments in small island; Sustainable tourism as an adaptive paradigm; Community based tourism planning; Role of culture and heritage in small island tourism development; Sustainable tourism indicators in small islands; Managing seasonality in small island tourism; Climate Change and small island tourism; Kyoto Protocol and small island; Integrated tourism planning.

MGT 6197 -  MARKETING FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM
Role of marketing in sustainable tourism; Services marketing; Benefits for adopting sustainability practices from a marketing perspective; Role of DMOs in formulating sustainable marketing practices; Role of tour operators in sustainable marketing; Sustainable tourism principles in strategic marketing system; Role of marketing intelligence and market research in evaluating and monitoring appropriateness of sustainable tourism marketing; Monitoring and evaluation of marketing practices in DMOs and individual operators; Destination branding and future issues.
MGT 6195 -  SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT PRACTICES
Scientific, economic and political background of sustainability; Sustainability and economic growth; Socio-political approaches to sustainable development; Principles of sustainable development; Development and competing use of  resources; Sustainable transport and construction; Education and training for sustainable development; LA 21 and sustainable development; Sustainable development and related international agreements; Indicators of sustainable development; Critical review of environmental management tools; Environmental Management system; Waste management in the tourism and hospitality industry; Energy Management; Hotel operations and energy savings; Environmental monitoring; Quality Management; ISO 14000 series; Certification schemes; Environmental reporting.

MGT 6288 -  CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR TOURISM
Historical development of CSR; International developments; Evolutions and perspectives; CSR in tourism and related sectors; The concept of social responsibility; CSR and sustainable development; Understanding theories of CSR and business ethics; The tourism industry and CSR; Categories of socially responsible behaviour; Components of CSR; Linking strategy and social responsibility; Environmental governance; Legal, ethical and moral issues in tourism and hospitality business; CSR and public policy; CSR and the media; Consumer rights and CSR; Evaluating effectives of CSR; CSR case studies drawn from tourism and related industries; Carbon offsetting programs.

LAWS 6286 -  ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS AND REGULATIONS
Introduction to the concepts of sustainable development and sustainable tourism; International sources of environmental law; conventions, principles and related case law; bio-security issues; mitigation of the effects of climate change, depletion of the ozone layer, biodiversity issues, implementation and enforcement issues; Main sources of local tourism and environmental law; institutions responsible for the protection of the environment and their effectiveness: Role of the private sector in helping to protect the environment; Public-Private Partnerships; Eco-tax, eco-incentives, eco-measures; National Policies related to tourism; coastal zone management, energy efficiency, renewable energies; framework of the Environment Impact Assessment system ; sanction of violations of environmental law ; Prohibition notices, Variation notices, Enforcement notices, Stop orders ; Recourse mechanism, Environment Appeal Tribunal, Mauritian caselaw; Environment and health law; Public health act; Occupational health act.

MGT 6287 -  BIODIVERSITY AND ECOTOURISM MANAGEMENT
Understanding the relationship between biodiversity and ecotourism; Biodiversity in island economies; Ecotourism in developing countries; Terrestrial and Marine ecotourism; Global biodiversity and its present state; Impact of tourism on biodiversity; Ecotourism and the local community; Tourism and overuse of resources; Ecotourism and sustainable development; Biodiversity and conservation; Habitat management; Strategies and techniques for wildlife management; Management of protected areas; Landscape management for tourism; Management of terrestrial and aquatic resources; Mitigation of conflict with wildlife; Use of maps and aerial photographs; GIS and its application; International conventions relating to biodiversity conservation.

MGT 6198 -  METHODS FOR TOURISM AND ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
Introducing research; Knowledge and skills necessary to develop and conduct a research study; The research process; Selection of a research topic; Writing a research proposal; Formulation of objectives; Design of hypotheses; Conducting a literature review; Selection of research methods; Qualitative and quantitative research in tourism; Trade off between research methods; Questionnaire design; Descriptive statistics; Inferential statistics; Introduction to SPSS; Coding of data in SPSS; Analysing qualitative and quantitative data; Interpretation of data; Reporting of results.  
MGT 6100 -  RESIDENTIAL SEMINAR
Students will be required to submit a report of not less than 1200 words to their programme coordinator after attendance and participation. Seminar attendance and the report shall be assessed by the Programme Coordinator. Grade ‘S’ will be assigned upon satisfactory performance to be eligible for the award of the degree. 

MGT 6290 E - TOURISM
Influence of e-business technologies on the tourism and hospitality industry; Quality hospitality and tourism website design elements; Successful website management; ICTs, tourism and hospitality development; Demand driven e-tourism; Supply driven e-tourism; E-airlines; E-hospitality; E-travel agencies; E-destinations; IT security in the tourism and hospitality industry; Electronic payment system; Future development in IT and the changing tourism and hospitality environment; Technology and sustainable development.

MGT 6291 - TOURIST BEHAVIOUR
Understanding behaviour of travellers; Tourist motivation; Push and pull framework; Destination image; Changing attitudes and perceptions of tourists; Travel decision making process; Tourist satisfactions; Destination loyalty; Group and cultural influences on travel behaviour; Understanding the tourist experience; Responsible behaviour for sustainable tourism; Pro-environmental behaviour

MGT 6289 - ENVIRONMENT AND DEVELOPMENT
Historical trajectory of the environment-development discourse; Tourism development, economic growth and the environment; Trade, investment and lending in relation to environmental degradation and protection; Prospects for organic agriculture and food security issues; Industrialisation and urbanisation and associated environmental issues; Sustainable livelihoods framework: a tool for sustainability

MGT 6000Y - DISSERTATION
The dissertation will allow the student to explore in depth an area or an issue related tourism, environment and sustainable development. It will draw upon relevant concepts and techniques introduced during the taught part of the course and will seek to combine the theory and practice relevant to the students’ area of interest, but related to the course themes, through the completion of a substantial and relevant in-depth piece of work. Report of approximately 12,000-14,000 words. 

30 July 2009