Hi, I'm Nigel I'm the tourism course leader here at the University of
Brighton this means that I not only teach a number of modules here such as
the impacts of tourism to first-year students and attractions management to
second year students that it also means I am responsible for the leadership of
the course and also I represent students as they progress through the university
at exam boards and finally I also promote the University on open days and
also visit local colleges to prospective students. So why study tourism? Well, first
of all tourism is the world's biggest industry, it creates lots of wealth and
economic jobs and lots of destinations around the world but it also provides
lots of complex social, cultural issues and environmental impacts as well.
It's also a very resilient industry, it's not very susceptible to economic downturn as
well because people do like to travel. So the course reflects the applied nature
of the industry such as the impacts of tourism also wider
conceptual debates about issues centered around the impacts of globalization on
tourism, how much tourism should be allowed to
develop in destinations as well in places like Barcelona, Venice or Mount
Everest, and also whether tourism affects positively or negatively local cultures.
So the course is divided into two halves: first we have the management which was
looking at principles of marketing, HR issues and organizational behaviour and
also financial issues and how this could be applied, these wider business skills
to the tourism sector and then we have the other half which is the field core
tourism subjects, for example resort and destination management or planning for
tourism or also looking at how to see how the industry is organizing or the
key stakeholders responsible for tourism. All students have the option to do a
placement after their second year this is a year-long opportunity to go out
into the workforce and apply your skills that you've learnt in the class to the
industry and then you come back and work on a placement research
project or some students will just carry out their studies in three straight
years and do a traditional dissertation so the placement year would be three
years of study plus a fourth year and then the traditional route is three
straight years either way of that research project for placement and the
traditional dissertation counts as the honors element for your degree.
We have lots of placement opportunities with a wide range of domestic and international
employers such as theme parks and attractions, hotels and resorts, airports
and lots of destination management organizations as well.
Placements are great learning opportunities on this course look especially impressive on your CV when you graduate and looking for jobs
So why study in Brighton?
Well, first of all Brighton is a living breathing case study for tourism right
on our doorstep, it has a long tradition as a seaside destination but also it is
seen as a hip an alternative place to study or live and/or visit and shop.
The second reason to study at University of Brighton is our staff expertise.
Myself and my colleagues we come from industry, we worked in the travel and tourism
sectors for example in cruise or tour operators as well, so a lot of our
knowledge is based on our work experience as well but also we embed
some of our teaching with our practical consultancy that we do with tourism
organisations and companies - we also underpin our teaching with our academic
research which is published in a wide range of international journals and
books as well. Further we infuse our lectures with industry guest speakers as
well I really believe in the importance of field trips we like to get you out of
the classroom to visit lots of local attractions in the Brighton area but
also the wider Sussex region as well. And finally it's you the students who make the
course and create the knowledge. You guys are coming from a variety of backgrounds
not only from the UK but further afield - this means this infuses some of our
classrooms with a lot of critical debate about how tourism
is affecting people all around the world. If you'd like any more information about
studying international tourism management here at the Business School
at the University of Brighton please contact me you can see my contact
details and turns my email and my phone number
thanks for listening and hope to see you soon