The course aims to teach students the theoretical fundamentals of tourism, which includes the macro aspects that refer to the sectoral, territorial, and regulatory context, and the micro aspects, namely the governance choices and actions of individual tourism enterprises.

In the last part of the course the basics needed to plan and implement a social media marketing strategy in the tourism context will be introduced.

During the course case studies as well as direct testimonies of entrepreneurs, industry associations, and stakeholders, who will illustrate the critical success factors in the current tourism context, will be presented and analyzed.

1. The phenomenon of tourism

2. Tourism destinations: conceptual and organizational aspects

3. Smart tourism destination

4. Wellness destinations for tourism development

5. Collaboration strategies in destinations for tourism competitiveness

6. Tourism enterprises: legislative framework and classification

7. Experiental tourism

8.  Destination Brand and Destination Branding policies

9.  Local events such as "Mediterranean experiences" :  their role in tourism development of the territory

10.  Sustainable governance of touristic destinations

Students must acquire adequate knowledge about and the ability to understand touristic systems and management models related to the economics and management of tourism enterprises

Students must be able to apply acquired knowledge, understand, and solve problems concerning the multiple and varied contexts that characterize local touristic systems and the numerous stakeholders therein.

Students must know how to utilize, both conceptually and practically, the knowledge they have gained in order to autonomously assess and discern the various applicative contexts.

Students must acquire the technical language of the discipline in order to communicate clearly and unambiguously with specialized interlocutors (managers of both private and public enterprises, scholars, experts, local agencies, etc.) and must also develop relational and communication skills for dealing with non specialists.

Students must develop adequate learning skills so as to continue to expand their knowledge of the discipline and in particular, of the working contexts in which they will act.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

As a supplement to the lessons, seminars on certain topics will be offered

Teaching

The course includes the following teaching methods:

• frontal lectures
• guest speakers: entrepreneurs, industry associations, public agency representatives
• group projects and practical case study work
• class discussions or webinar

Innovative teaching methods

The face-to-face teaching method will be enriched with individual and group exercises and insights that students will carry out using the University Moodle platform. Some topics of the course will be treated following the practice of the "flipped lesson".

Course books

Course materials are available on this platform:  Moodle › blended.uniurb.it

Material provided by the professor 

Mauro Dini e Tonino Pencarelli (2020), Le destinazioni di benessere per lo sviluppo turistico. Franco Angeli Milano

Paragraphs (1.1, 1.2, 1.3; 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4; 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.4, 3.5; 4.1, 4.2, 4.3, 4.4)

Assessment

Each student’s expected learning outcomes will be assessed by means of a written, two-part examination: 

1) a structured first part consisting of: 24 multiple-choice questions (each worth 1 point, for a total of 24 points). The objective of this part is to assess the student’s declarative knowledge as well as his/her capacity to comprehend concepts and representations.

2) an unstructured second part consisting of: 1 open question (worth a maximum of 7 points). The evaluation criteria for the response to this question are:

1. student’s knowledge of course concepts

2. student’s capacity for critical thinking

Each of these criteria will be assessed on a four-level marking scale.

Students taking the exam will have a total of 24 minutes available to answer the questions.

The final score on the written examination will be expressed in 30ths. 

With a minimum passing score (18/30) on the written exam, a student may elect to take an oral examination in order to increase his/her final score. This final mark will reflect any additional points gained during the oral examination.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

For the academic year 2022/2023 the program of attending and non-attending students is the same.