AIMS

The Master’s Degree in Tourism Management and Planning has the following objectives:

• To prepare students for decision-taking roles in positions of high responsibility in tourist companies, activities and institutions.
• To equip students to respond to sustainability, diversity and quality requirements in tourist markets.
• To train students in the application of methods, instruments and practices in order to carry out scientific research in tourism.
• To facilitate the incorporation of technological solutions into the management of establishments, activities and resorts.
• To adapt the level of Spanish University Tourism studies to that of other European Union countries, and standardise them with regard to other economic activities with specific training systems.
• To develop specialisation profiles that take into account both the need for innovation in areas of business management and the development of new systems for managing certain common aspects.

Further objectives of this proposal for the Master’s Degree in Tourism Management and Planning are as follows:

• To standardise the transmission of knowledge in tourism and consequently, to facilitate the creation of joint programmes between universities in Spain and other countries.
• To create the conditions for cross-disciplinary, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary lines of research to be developed.
• To incorporate training in tourism into the goals set at the Lisbon and Barcelona Summits to ensure that European education systems become a reference point in terms of quality for 2010. Given the importance of tourism in Spain, this aim should constitute an unquestionable objective of higher education management in Spain.

GENERAL AND SPECIFIC SKILLS

The objective of this degree is for students to acquire an advanced, specialised and multidisciplinary training aimed at academic or professional specialisation as well as providing an introduction to research activity.
The general and specific skills have been defined taking into account the fundamental right to equal opportunities for men and women; the principles of equal opportunities and universal access for people with disabilities; and a culture based on democratic values, in accordance with article 3.5 of Royal Decree 1393/2007 of the 29^th October.
The general and specific skills which students will acquire during their studies, and which are a prerequisite for awarding the degree, are shown below:

• Structure of the Master’s Degree: credits and subjects
• Distribution of subjects by year/semester
• General course programme

MASTER’S DEGREE COURSE -  CREDITS AND SUBJECTS

DISTRIBUTION OF SUBJECTS BY YEAR/SEMESTER

GENERAL COURSE PROGRAMME

The course programme is divided into seven modules, two of which are given in  each of the first three semesters, with the seventh consisting of the Master’s Degree Final Project and work experience, both of which take place in the fourth semester.

Three of the modules consist of compulsory subjects, whilst the other four allow students to choose from foreign languages or other optional subjects that complement the module in question.

The course programme for the University Master’s Degree in Tourism Management and Planning is worth a total of 120 credits, spread over two years worth 60 ECTS each.  These,  in turn, are divided into two semesters worth 30 ECTS each, which include all the theory and practical instruction that students are expected to acquire.

Modules and subjects:

• MODULE 1: Consists of: The Tourist System and its Economic Environment; Foreign Languages; Tourism and Economic Development.
• MODULE 2: Consists of Instruments and Techniques for Managing Tourist Companies
• MODULE 3: Consists of: Instruments and Techniques for Managing Tourist Companies; Foreign Languages; Local Development and Tourism.
• MODULE 4: Consists of Research Methods and Techniques.
• MODULE 5: Consists of: Marketing Management; Foreign Languages; Tourist Consumer Behaviour and Commercial Management.
• MODULE 6: Consists of: Managing Quality and the Environment in Tourist Companies and Organisations; Foreign Languages; Legal Framework for Planning and Managing Leisure Activities and Spaces. 
• MODULE 7: Consists of the Master’s Degree Final Project and Work Experience.

• Entry Requirements and Selection Criteria
• Admission profile
• Admission and Assessment Criteria
• Pre-enrolment and Enrolment
• Number of Places

ENTRY REQUERIMENTS AND SELECTION CRITERIA 

According to the Regulations of the University of Alicante, the following requirements must be complied to have access to official taught Master’s degrees:

1. To be in possession of a SPANISH OFFICIAL GRADUATE DEGREE CERTIFICATE or other issued by an institution of higher education  within the EHEA (European Higher Education) that enables the holder to have access  to Master’s degrees in the issuing.
2. To be in possession of an officially approved  FOREIGN HIGHER EDUCATION DEGREE CERTIFICATE that had been recognised as equal to the degree that allows access to the requested studies.
3. To be in possession of a UNIVERSITY DEGREE CERTIFICATE obtained in a University or Higher Education Institution of COUNTRIES OUTSIDE THE EHEA, without the prior approval of their studies. In this case, the following should be considered:

• Non- recognised degree certificates shall require a technical report showing an equivalence statement issued by the University of Alicante (ContinUA – Continuing Education Centre), for which the corresponding fee should be paid.
• Access through this way does under no circumstances imply prior official approval of the holder’s degree certificate, nor its recognition for purposes other than studying a master's degree.

ADMISSION PROFILE

The Master’s Degree in Tourism Planning and Management is aimed at Tourism graduates and Diploma holders, as well as  university graduates with degrees in economic, social or legal disciplines who wish to acquire specialised training in the management of tourism businesses and organisations.

ADMISSION AND ASSESSMENT CRITERIA 

The following criteria will be applied to assess suitability:

• Degree: Preference will be given to Tourism graduates. Applicants holding other degrees, will be ranked according to the relevance of their qualification to Tourism.
• Professional experience in tourism.
• Command of foreign languages.
• Specialised training in tourism.

Furthermore, a prerequisite for admission will be a command of Spanish, demonstrated by presenting  a document accrediting one of the folllowing :

• A degree issued by a Spanish-speaking country.
• The Institute of Cervantes basic Spanish level.
• Successful completion of an advanced Spanish course at the University of Alicante.
• A level of Spanish equivalent to those listed above.

Irrespective of the above, the Master’s Academic Committee reserves the right to conduct personal interviews or set an examination in order to verify an applicant’s command of Spanish.

PRE-ENROLMENT AND ENROLMENT 

PRE-ENROLMENT +info

Students who intend to study for an officially recognised Master’s Degree at the UA should complete pre-enrolment in accordance with the guidelines and deadlines specified annually.

Terms of Pre-Enrolment

Frequently asked questions

ENROLMENT +info

• Deadline for enrolment:

Following publication of the final list of those admitted to the course, an email containing a user password will be sent to successful applicants, enabling them to enrol via the Campus Virtual in accordance with the guidelines and deadlines specified annually.

In the registration process, the documents issued abroad must be official, duly notorised and translated. Further information:

• http://sga.ua.es/en/academic-regulations/legalizacion/legalization-of-documents.html

NUMBER OF PLACES

• Focus 
• Specialisation profile 
• Professional profile

Focus

Academic and research.

  Master’s degree specialisation profile

Tourism plays an important role in the development of socioeconomic spaces and depends on existing natural, cultural and social resources; various activities and projects have the ability to convert or transform a resource into a tourist product. As an economic activity, tourism also demands and consumes resources, which in most cases are public in nature and are managed by the public authorities. The well-known interdisciplinary nature of tourism, therefore, is defined not only by the impact that tourism has on resorts, but also by the different professions that tourism requires as an industry. For this reason, the profiles that the Master’s course is aimed at covering are as follows:

1. RESORT PLANNER AND MANAGER: Tourist resorts are traditionally managed by public administrations, which establish or develop different administrative organisations responsible for all tourism matters. The constant and permanent relationship between public administration, management of the public and private sectors and visitor demands is much more intense in the case of tourism than other economic sectors, and thus Public Planning and Resort Management is hugely important element of the Master’s course, and increasingly so due to the escalating number of figures and organisations responsible for this area. These include public administrations and their ministries, secretariats, sub-secretariats, boards, general directorates, departments, etc., which are responsible for tourism and thus require an understanding of the real situation of a sector is and its operation. There are also companies or institutions under various guises of private enterprise but which are funded with public capital, such as the tourist organisations of Spain’s autonomous communities, which are responsible, among other things, for marketing tourist resorts. Other institutions, such as consortia, tourist boards, foundations, etc., have become points of reference in terms of resort management. Supra-municipal relationships also exist, such as districts and municipal communities, which in many cases develop tourist initiatives, and European funds also allow for initiatives of this kind. There has also been the recent development of what are known as Plans for Tourist Excellence and the Promotion of Tourism, which act as catalysts for initiatives and funds to promote tourism in Spain. As a consequence, the need for qualified people capable of leading, managing and planning a resort is a key variable in the development of sustainable tourism tailored to existing needs and available resources.
   1. Resort Manager (administrations, tourist boards, joint ventures, etc.): Responsible for planning and managing a resort and promotional projects. Resort managers establish strategies to promote resorts, set targets to be reached and the means to carry them out, having analysed and evaluated the different components of the market. They are responsible for managing all municipal or district tourist services in terms of their organisation and operation. They establish the necessary procedures to ensure an effective relationship between the administrations and social agents connected with the resort. As business managers they monitor and supervise their organisation’s finances, as well as carrying out the necessary activities to obtain funding through correct and efficient administration of the public resources at their disposal.
   2. Resort Plan Manager: Responsible for the tourism plan of a resort and implementation of initiatives as agreed by the management committees concerned. Resort plan managers monitor and supervise the plan’s finances, managing annual payments and ensuring that the budget for each plan is properly implemented. They also co-ordinate communication plans to ensure that each plan is properly promoted and has its own identity. 
   3. Resort Programme Manager: Responsible for developing tourism activities from the opportunities generated by development projects. Resort programme managers design and propose resort promotion strategies, in addition to managing resorts in terms of tourist service organisation. They ensure that the programme’s goals are met, co-ordinating and monitoring companies contracted to implement programmes. They are responsible for managing municipal or broader programmes and projects in terms of organisation and operation, as well as proposing lines of action relating to the resort and implementing the programme’s budget.  
   4. Tourism Planning Officer: Responsible for tourism planning in public administrations  at all territorial levels. Tourism planning officers define strategies to enhance the value of resources and products, and to boost activity in their area. They also apply territorial and strategic planning instruments.
2. TOURISM PRODUCT MANAGER: Closely linked to all areas relating to leisure and recreation, this profile often refers to the main motivational component of travel, including the themes, contents and values of a resort.  Professionals are required to plan, promote, market and enhance the value of the product, and need to possess   all the characteristics of a general product manager, including a complete knowledge of their products/resorts and the ability to identify their potential. They should have an innovative approach, adapted to new trends, and must be able to integrate products into resorts. They may work in either public or private organisations, and their activity is directly related to local development. The General Secretariat for Tourism is expected to develop a line of incentives for creating tourism product promotion plans in collaboration with regional and local administrations.
   1. Specific Product Manager: Responsible for planning, promoting, marketing and managing specific products in specialist fields (events, golf, snow, sailing, sun and beach, rural, cultural, etc.). Must be able to identify opportunities, create new products and target them at specific markets. Their work is geared towards designing new products in a structured organisation (e.g. a ski resort) and to creating new possibilities for developing tourism in specific upcoming areas.  
   2. Tourism Product Development Officer: Responsible for developing tourism products and for planning and implementing management and operation of a specific product.  
3. CORPORATE DIRECTOR OF ORGANISATIONS: This includes all high-ranking professionals in private organisations (companies and non-profit organisations alike). Senior management consists of the higher hierarchical levels in any organisational structure. Directors are distinguished by their supervisory responsibilities over other managers, and are not controlled by other members of the organisation (though they controlled by the owners, partners or delegates, as occurs with a board of directors). Directors of this kind are responsible for the company’s main relationships with its environment, ensuring that the company is able to adapt to changes, innovate and position itself competitively against its rivals. They set the organisation’s long-term objectives. In the tourist industry, these positions are to be found in head offices of large business groups. Large Spanish tourism companies have formed vertically integrated business groups and now occupy a large proportion of the entire tourism sector. Senior directors of this kind are to be found not only in the head offices of these large corporations, but also in each of the divisions that it comprises. These are usually autonomous companies linked to the group through stock ownership. There are also business groups where only one part of their activity is linked to tourism, and the senior directors of these companies fit this profile. However, most private Spanish tourism organisations are smaller in size, and thus are not so structurally complex. In small and medium tourism enterprises, the corporate managers are usually the owners, although in a process of increasing professionalisation, these positions are also being filled by highly qualified business managers. There is also a wide range of private non-profit organisations which promote the joint interests of other organisations (such as province-  or resort-based hotel associations), with senior management positions that require similar levels of skill and training to those demanded  in private companies, although their results may not reflect any actual business activity.
   1. Manager of non-profit tourism organisations: These managers require a thorough understanding of the sector or sectors of the companies that they represent and the geographic area in which they operate, and must be fully aware of the position of power occupied by their organisation, as well as that of its member companies and institutions, together with the possible relationships within larger networks, particularly those involving public bodies and other third parties with vested interests in the sector. These managers define joint action strategies for their associates and provide common services, promoting co-operation between partners and affiliates.  Thus planning and management skills are essential for organisation and monitoring of the actions entrusted to their organisations (promotion, training, negotiation, etc.).
   2. Tourism Business Group Director (hotel chains, brokerage, leisure corporations, etc.):  Experts in securing the best global strategic position for their organisation, both to compete with rivals and to locate it to advantage within the various networks to which it belongs, they must co-ordinate the various businesses and areas of their organisation to ensure effective integration. They therefore need to be skilled strategists capable of analysing their environment accurately, understanding the role of the resources and the capacities that their organisation needs to face the future and be able to develop their creative skills, innovative vision and negotiating powers with both internal and external agents.
   3. Tourism Company Director: Company directors provide high level management within small or medium private organisations, and need to know how to deal with the markets, their competitors, public policies and pressure from third parties (workers, consumers, external networks, etc.), as well as bringing together the various operative and business areas that their organisation may eventually have. Due to the lack of intermediate managerial structures in their organisations, they will have to tackle complex decision-making processes and problem analyses without much technical support, and thus need to be fully familiar with the business and the various departments it incorporates, and possess all the basic skills for effective leadership.
   4. Director of a Tourist Division in a Business Group: Professionals in this role need to know the essentials of strategic planning in order to identify a favourable and lasting competitive position for their business within the group, which requires a thorough understanding of their sector (competitors, suppliers, clients, third parties, etc.) and how it will evolve over time. Also responsible for setting the division’s competitive strategies and for ensuring that they are properly implemented by the various operative units involved.
4. OPERATING DIRECTOR: This covers all professionals who manage areas of a small or medium organisation, which may be independent or part of a larger business group. Their role includes managing, integrating and monitoring the different areas of the organisation, planning and analysing information systems and interpreting how the decision-making process should work.
   1. Director of Tourist Information, Promotion and Marketing: Responsible for planning, organising, managing, disseminating and integrating tourist information, as well as promotion and marketing.
   2. Product Director in an organisation (Spa services, etc.): Responsible for directing the research, planning, design, development and management of services and products that are specific to a company or organisation, which may be independent or part of a larger business group. Their goal is to innovate, secure strong market positioning and gain a competitive edge.
   3. Business Area Director: Responsible for certain departments of a company (operations, information systems, quality, economic and financial management, sales, human resources, etc.). 
5. R&D&I MANAGER: The co-ordination of areas, departments or centres which identify and study the problems and challenges faced by tourism. Able to analyse current situations and future forecasts, and implement measures to increase competitiveness, progress and innovation in the tourism sector. May work in private companies or public institutions.
   1. Consultant / Advisor: Responsible for planning, implementing and monitoring research entrusted to them in order to recommend actions and measures to be taken, and provide help in applying such recommendations.
   2. Analyst: Responsible for compiling available information within the appropriate framework in order to extract conclusions that contribute to the decision-making process.
6. TEACHER/RESEARCH ASSISTANT: Tourism increasingly needs people who are able to teach, conduct research and produce reports. In this respect, there is a need for: a) teachers in tourism at different levels with the ability to approach issues from a technical perspective and provide pertinent theoretical interpretations; b) researchers accredited by the academic structure – doctorate graduates with knowledge of research theories, methods and techniques, and with experience in applying them to the tourism industry. They should also have a thorough knowledge of new issues and problems in tourism in order to contribute to advances in R&D&I. Joint work is required on various senior teaching and research platforms, in collaboration with organisations that plan and provide services for tourists. Tourism is a specific business sector, with its own practices and problems quite different to those of other sectors. Tourism has also become a specific area of teaching and research, with its own profile and its own dynamics, and thus needs an academic arena in which to examine the subject thoroughly, and for new tourism doctorate graduates to enter the university structure.
   1. Research Assistant: Must be highly trained in research theory, methods and techniques. Will carry out R&D research, as well as producing reports for organisations of different types. Will also publish their work and will organise and attend conferences to debate research.
   2. Teacher: Must be well-informed of the latest research into tourism and incorporate advances into their teaching material. Due to the abundance of data on tourism, teachers must be capable of organising and synthesising information before presenting it to their students. Teachers should be highly motivated and publish work materials aimed at students.

Master’s degree course profession profiles

Professions for which the degree qualifies its holder.

The Master’s course qualifies its holder for the following professions:

• Resort planner and manager: resort manager (administrations, tourist boards, joint ventures, etc.), resort plan manager, resort programme manager, tourism planning officer.
• Tourism product development officer: specific product manager, tourist product development officer.
• Corporate director of organisations: manager of non-profit organisations, tourism business group director (hotel chains, brokerage, leisure corporations, etc.), tourism company director, tourism division director in a larger business group.
• Operating director in a tourism company: information, promotion and marketing director, product director in an organisation (Spa Services, etc.) and business area director.
• R&D&I director: consultant, adviser or analyst.
• Teacher and research assistant.

TIMESCALE FOR IMPLEMENTATION

1. Timescale for implementation of the Master’s Degree course  

2. Procedure for equivalence recognition, where appropriate, between the current and the new course programme.

 Recognition of credit equivalence is automatic, since the course programme has not changed.

3. Studies being phased out and replaced by the proposed degree course: 

Official Master’s Degree in Tourism Management and Planning.

Internal Quality Assurance System (SGIC) of the Title

• Structure of the Centre for Quality
  • Comission of Internal Quality Guarantee
  • Other Commissions  
• Handbook SGIC
• Procedures
  • Strategic (PE)
  • Key (PC)
  • Support (PA)
  • Measurement (PM)

• Management of the SGIC (Access to ASTUA)

Follow-up of the Title

• Self-reports UA
• External reports AVAP 
• Other reports
• Improvement Plans
• Progress and Learning Outcomes