International Tourism and Hospitality Management

On this module you'll build on your acquired professional skills from your first year module Building Professional and Academic Skills for Success to help you further prepare you for your future employment. You'll be able to reflect on your experiences and increase your self-awareness about the skills that you'll need to gain employment in the tourism, hospitality and events management sector as you work through your live projects. 

This module will help you build on your first year learning. You’ll be able to identify and analyse the characteristics of managing people in Tourism, Hospitality and Events labour markets. Also, you’ll gain knowledge of theory and practices associated with managing culturally diverse people and workforces in these sectors. You’ll evaluate critically contemporary people management theoretical approaches utilising a range of independently researched evidence to support your arguments. 

You’ll analyse relevant theoretical propositions for international Tourism,Hospitality and Events sectors. To build your understanding of managing people in these sectors. And you’ll also engage with current debates concerning the diversity and inclusion, culture and cultural differences and ethical management of diverse workforces to develop your key management skills in Tourism, Hospitality and Events.
 

You’ll explore how tourism products are conceived and developed in destinations. You’ll examine the roles of different stakeholders, including:

• governments
• tour operators 
• local communities 
• accommodation providers. 

You’ll develop your understanding of the economics of destination development, the relevance of place and the role of place-making in supporting the development of sustainable destinations. You’ll progress and gain the skills needed to manage and develop a tourist product/experience, like:

• negotiation skills
• undertaking product orders
• understanding tourism regulatory frameworks
• and quality management.
   

Develop your critical research methods that can be used in the industry to provide the foundations for evidence based decision making. You will look at qualitative and quantitative methods, as well as developing your background knowledge that underpins research efforts. The knowledge you’ll acquire on this module will lay the foundation for you to use on your later research projects and in your future employment.

You’ll be tasked with developing a destination, or a tourism product, drawing from a number of provided examples. Helping you put the knowledge you’ve gained into practice. Also you’ll learn how to

• identify and engage key stakeholders
• how to identify, manage and mitigate risk
• how to establish key targets and performance indicators
• how to monitor and manage progress against these indicators
• how to deal with the impact of change on the project 
• how to develop and implement post evaluation (environmental, social and economic) 

to capture learning from the experience. Including if necessary, an exit and legacy strategy. While you focus on developing understanding of the links between strategy, decisions and outcomes for all stakeholders – internal and external.
 

This is your introduction to the core principles of marketing within the current digital environment. You’ll develop an understanding of the current changes in digital marketplaces and the need to adapt Tourism, Hospitality or Event (THE) products and services for those markets. Also you’ll explore the discipline of Digital Marketing in the wider context of service industries’ marketing activities combining theoretical foundations with a hands-on approach to the topic. You’ll have the opportunity to work in teams to audit an existing THE brand and/or develop your own team brand, draft a marketing plan and engage in the creation of a realistic digital marketing campaign.

Managing revenue effectively is of ultimate importance to maximising value and profit for the Hospitality, Tourism and Event industry. Management of revenue involves a co-ordinated application of a range of financial, operational and marketing skills, ranging from 

• price determination
• demand forecasting
• customer value perception
• inventory control 
• to channel distribution management. 

On this module you’ll examine all these topics and it will give you a holistic insight into Revenue Management from a combined financial and customer-centric approach. Your study will help prepare you for a fast-tracked career in the hospitality industry, in the Revenue Management area. You’ll finish this module equipped with the financial knowledge to tackle your final year financial modules.
 

This module provides you with practical guidance and support as you undertake a placement search, and helps prepare you for the placement experience and its related assessment requirements. It integrates with other employability related learning experiences, including co-curricular activities, which you may be undertaking.

You will develop knowledge and critical understanding of the classical principles of business strategy in exploring the question 'How should organisations compete to achieve sustainable, competitive advantage in today's global business environment?’ In answering this question, the potential of an organisation to create value through effective exploitation and development of internal resources and capabilities is examined using well-established analytical tools.

On successful completion of this module, you will be able to analyse and evaluate the relative impact of the international industrial and competitive environment on organisations and the strategic choices they face, apply decision-making criteria and weigh risks appropriately.

You’ll gain the underpinning theory, concepts and also some basic skills to understand and engage in the processes of creativity and innovation. You’ll take a holistic approach to look at this subject from a variety of angles. This could be from an

• academic perspective
• an organisational perspective
• a management consultancy perspective
• an entrepreneurial perspective. 

You’ll also have the opportunity and be supported to release and express more of your own creative potential. You’ll explore why creativity and innovation is increasingly being viewed as the key to competitive advantage in the New Economy.
 

You’ll look at the environmental sustainability challenges facing society and businesses. You’ll discuss key environmental issues such as:

• global warming
• pollution
• biodiversity loss 
• freshwater depletion 

and the role of business in causing as well as responding to such issues. 

You’ll explore macro (economic, policy, governance) as well as micro (organisational and individual) perspectives. You’ll also be introduced to a variety of stakeholder perspectives and frameworks for evaluating business responses. Through the module you’ll develop your key competencies for sustainability that are endorsed by UNESCO (2017) and the QAA/Advance HE (2021). The competencies are:

• systems thinking
• anticipatory thinking
• normative competency 
• strategic thinking
• collaborative competency 
• critical thinking
• self-awareness 
• integrated problem-solving competency.
   

This is your opportunity for independent study on an approved topic. It will relate to your programme learning outcomes. You’ll select and discuss a relevant topic area with your Programme Lead/Subject Co-ordinator. Your independent study may involve:

• action based learning 
• be based solely on desk research 
• limited primary research
• group work.

And will be self directed. Through any group work you may have a specific role and responsibilities.
 

You’ll explore and critically analyse theories, models and frameworks of tourist behaviour drawn from a range of social science disciplines such as:

• Anthropology
• Sociology
• Psychology
• Geography
• and Politics. 

You’ll be able to relate theory to practice through evaluation of academic and non-academic material. You'll also reflect on tourist narratives (e.g. social media) and your personal experiences. Finally, you’ll assess the relevance of the above to applied tourism management (especially destination management).
 

You’ll explore the socio-cultural origins and place in society of a range of celebratory events, such as:

• weddings
• anniversaries
• celebrations of birth and death.

You’ll critically review the religious, ethnic and social associations of such events in various settings. Also you’ll apply the key practical and creative requirements of designing and staging such events. 

Through your studies you’ll develop core events skills like taking a client brief, managing stakeholders and events communications. You’ll have the opportunity to work with a live client brief. Practising your core skills you’ll acknowledge the cultural expectations of the client, and reflect on difference and opportunity, to celebrate diversity.
 

This module helps you to develop the competencies required by graduate employers. You will undertake a placement in a hospitality, tourism, and events organisation to give a significant length of time to experience the realities of work. Learn more about how Oxford Brookes Business School supports students secure a work placement.

You will be challenged to advance your reflective skills and reassess the personal ability to effectively manage a diverse range of relationships. Also you’ll look at authentic leadership skills within the international hospitality and tourism industries.

By the end of the module, you will have developed

• leadership knowledge
• competencies and skills by using your own work
• university and/or community-based experiences to explore key relationships
• professional sector competencies
• and how to evaluate contemporary leadership challenges. 
   

Through this Research Project you’ll have the opportunity to conduct sustained, self-directed, independent work through an in-depth study of a hospitality or tourism-related topic where you can analyse theory, evaluate it and apply it to examining practice.

You’ll focus on the study of the range of nature and type of impacts associated with tourism and tourists on the 

• Environment
• Economy 
• Society.

Including approaches to impact assessment and management to ensure that the tourism and hospitality industry benefits from them.
 

You will build skills in thinking logically and critically about complex managerial issues that hospitality organisations face today and structure solutions with a data-driven approach.

You’ll develop your understanding of the content, importance and relevance of business analytics and data visualisation in business decision-making with a focus on the hospitality and tourism industry.

You will gain knowledge of the key concepts and methods combined with extensive opportunities to develop your hands-on skills for applying business analytics and data visualisation to managerial decision-making.
 

This module is designed to address our changing world that is facing social and environmental challenges. You’ll develop the capacity to make ethically defensible decisions as members of business organisations and of society in general. You’ll analyse and evaluate the ethical propositions of others. And, you’ll evaluate the ethics of different systemic models of production, distribution and exchange.

Upon completing this module, be able evaluate and apply ethical reasoning to local and global business dilemmas and economic systems, and you’ll be able to evaluate the significance of a range of western and non-western ethical perspectives.

This module builds on students’ previous marketing knowledge by developing a thorough understanding of the theories of consumer behaviour and their appropriate application in different organisational contexts. It examines decision-making processes, consumption or product usage and post consumption behaviours. The module is important because the actions of consumers lie at the heart of modern marketing theory and practice.

This module enables you to review and develop disciplinary knowledge and research skills within a contemporary global context. The module adopts a broad definition of `international human resource management', to include issues relating to the impact of diversity management, national culture, the debates in the comparative HRM literature and examples of differences in the way HRM is conducted around the world. It also examines how international organisations deal with the extra complexity that operating internationally brings to HRM.

Current issues will also be examined including the foreign vs. local staffing debate, women expatriates, joint venture issues and issues surrounding cross-cultural management.
 

You will be exposed to what is involved in being a successful entrepreneur in the Hospitality and Tourism industry sectors. Also you’ll learn techniques to foster creativity and innovation.

You’ll undertake informed reflection on your entrepreneurial predispositions and have the opportunity to work up and present an idea for your own potential venture to a panel of expert entrepreneurs.
 

Explore how the assets of a hospitality and tourism organisation are effectively managed on behalf of internal and external stakeholders and key techniques of financial decision-making for hospitality and tourism organisations. Also, you will get the opportunity to analyse and interpret the Annual Report and Accounts of a publically listed Hospitality or Tourism business.

You’ll look at hospitality and tourism financial reports, where you build your skills and knowledge of:

• uniform accounting systems
• responsibility accounting
• hotel industry studies and comparative analysis.
• content and interpretation of annual reports of hospitality and tourism businesses
• hotel management contracts
• franchising
• business valuation
• capital project appraisal methods
• responsibilities of the asset manager within the owner/operator context
• contemporary financial issues.
   

You’ll have the opportunity to explore complex relationships between food and drink, individuals and societies.You will build your critical thinking skills and be able to argue and present about the extensive implications of food and drink-related practices for society. 

You’ll analyse a variety of factors that shape these relationships and examine the

• consequences for health
• environment
• distinctiveness of cultures
• cohesiveness of communities.
   

This is your opportunity to embark on independent study of an approved topic that relates to your learning outcomes. Your study will be conducted under supervision and you will select a relevant topic area from your course and you’ll need to get approval from the module leader.

Your study on this module can involve:

• action-based learning
• solely on desk research 
• limited primary research.
   

You will explore factors affecting the decisions related to the international business strategies of hospitality and tourism (H and T) organisations. You’ll also learn methods to evaluate various international expansion modes considering the political, economic and socio-cultural environments of potential destinations. 

You’ll build appreciation of the risks associated with doing business in international markets by addressing transnational differences (with a particular focus on emerging markets) that affect the strategy, performance, and value of international H and T organisations. 

You’ll have the oppportunity to critically reflect on the impacts of a globalised brand or brands on local markets and consider ethical, social and environmental effects of a company’s decision to expand internationally. You’ll also look at models for organising and managing an international network of operations and how to coordinate knowledge transfer across borders.
 

You will explore the fundamental techniques and tools to analyse and improve operational capabilities of hospitality organisations. You will learn about commonly occurring application problems such as

• hotel/restaurant inventory control
• facility layout and workflow problems
• process and bottleneck analysis. 

Also you’ll look at optimisation models that support hospitality procurement and purchasing functions, including labour productivity analysis and regulating waiting times.

By the end of this module you will have explored various case studies of the role of operations in building the competitive strengths of an organisation and in fulfilling its ultimate goal of creating value and delivering customer satisfaction. 
 

This module aims to equip you with the skills and knowledge necessary to manage effectively in a globalised business environment. You’ll analyse a wide range of management practices, while also evaluating theoretical frameworks and conducting research on national cultures. You will evaluate the strategic implications of culture on business operations and HRM practices, while also developing the aptitude required to manage effectively across cultures.

Benefits to you include gaining a competitive edge in the job market by expanding knowledge about managing in a globalised world and navigating cross-cultural communication challenges. You will also broaden your horizons and increase your cultural awareness and sensitivity, enhancing your ability to work effectively with individuals from different backgrounds.