Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Tourism and Events Management (With Optional Placement Year)

at University of Westminster - Marylebone Campus United Kingdom

The Tourism Planning and Management BA focuses on the planning, development, management, and regeneration of destinations.

Tourism continues to be a major component of the global economy and has now become an established academic discipline, with roots in geography, economics, sociology, planning and business.

The University of Westminster has over 20 years of expertise in tourism education and research, and we are consistently ranked as one of the top universities for teaching quality and research output in the discipline. Our long history, dating back to the 1830s, includes a significant association with the early years of tour operating in Europe, and with the Olympic Games held in London in 1908 and 1948.

Located in the heart of London, we offer an unrivalled and stimulating environment in which to study tourism. We have close links with partner universities in Australia, the USA, Hong Kong and Malta, which in the past have given several students the opportunity to study abroad for one semester.

You can choose to take part in an optional year-long work placement module between years 2 and 3 (Levels 5 and 6). This is a further opportunity to enhance your transferable skills, commercial awareness and professionalism – increasing your future employability in the tourism sector.

This course is recognised by the Tourism Management Institute (the UK’s professional organisation for destination management) for the excellence of its content and is delivered in collaboration with our Department of Planning and Transport.

This course has been developed to meet the needs of graduates worldwide seeking to gain greater knowledge and experience of the air transport industry, and looking to progress into senior roles in management, operations and commercial planning of airlines, airports, government departments and aviation-related businesses such as aircraft manufacturing, finance and consultancy. It is designed to provide a strong theoretical and analytical basis, coupled with the application of many practical techniques and strategies.

The course builds on the successful series of aviation short courses that have attracted participants from around the globe to the University each year. The School has a long-established interest in air transport research, consultancy and teaching, having been set up by the renowned aviation academic Professor Rigas Doganis some 40 years ago. The University's association with aviation goes back much further, however, as it was here in the 19th century that Sir George Cayley first demonstrated the principles of flight.

Modules on both the one-year full-time course and the two-year part-time course are taught in blocks of five days at a time. Students take six taught modules in total (over one year on the full-time course, or two to three years on the block release part-time course) and complete a research dissertation. Email contact and tutorial support is provided between the module blocks along with guest lectures and workshop sessions for full-time students. International students who require a student visa will need to apply for the one-year full-time course.

Whether you consider yourself an ideas person, innovator or problem-solver, our exciting degree brings together the creative and analytical aspects of marketing to offer a hands-on experience of creating, managing and measuring the impact of an online brand.

Digital marketing is fast becoming one of the most important skills demanded by employers, as business is increasingly conducted online by digital brands and traditional players alike.

Our broad curriculum pulls together the many different strands of digital marketing – understanding user channels, stages of the customer journey, how to engage customers, drive traffic to websites, search engine optimisation, paid advertising, how to build a social media following and increase conversion through email sign-up or sales.

You will have the opportunity to tailor your course by choosing specialist option modules, covering topics like user experience, brand management, mobile and social media.

You’ll learn to build, focus and measure digital marketing messages and content to achieve the greatest effect on behalf of a brand, organisation or cause, using these same skills to manage your own professional presence online. In doing so, you’ll have the opportunity to develop and present your content ideas for campaigns, websites and apps in Switch 23, a collaborative digital marketing lab, which features the same Adobe Creative Cloud applications used in top agencies.

Top reasons to study with us

• Access to our dedicated digital marketing lab, Switch 23, using the same Adobe Creative Cloud applications used in top agencies
• Emphasis on real-world learning – you’ll engage with industry, working on real problems set in partnership with businesses and marketing agencies
• Focus on practice-based assessment with flexible final project of a dissertation or consultancy report that plays to your strengths and interests
• Optional placement or international year to gain valuable work experience. For example, one previous marketing student spent six months working as a podcast assistant for MailOnline, while another worked at IBM
• Hear from experts and mingle with marketing students by joining the student-run Westminster Marketing Society or gain experience working for the student-run Westminster Business Consultants (WBC)

Commercial managers play a key role in the commercial and financial success of construction projects, by monitoring activities to ensure projects are delivered on time, on budget and on quality. Our innovative course delivers the people and project management skills, professional and technical knowledge required to tackle the technical, organisational, commercial, legal and financial issues that can arise.

Fully accredited by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), this course will be of interest if you are a graduate in or with previous construction-related employment and if you are seeking a senior position in the field of commercial management.

It will develop your awareness of the importance of construction projects to clients, and the context within which projects are procured and undertaken, in particular the economic, financial, corporate, legal and regulatory constraints. You'll gain greater knowledge and understanding of the theories, concepts, principles, techniques, and intellectual and practical skills needed for effective procurement, financial control, risk assessment, supply chain management and more.

As globalisation encourages companies to operate and trade in multiple locations, and provides more opportunities for staff to work abroad, managing and developing people has never been more critical – or complex. On our MA, you’ll learn to appreciate the unique challenges of international HRM – from the cultural, legal and economic differences to remote relationship building.

Our problem-based approach to teaching means you’ll get to apply what you learn to management problems through assignments and projects based on actual situations. We’ll draw on everyday HR issues in the news, case studies and current examples, at times addressing some of our own students’ workplace experiences. Demonstrating evidence-based HRM, you’ll learn to collect and analyse relevant data and information, developing your ability to identify, evaluate and propose the most appropriate solutions, looking at issues ranging from expatriate employment, employee engagement, managing change and reward management.

Each year, our annual HRM conference offers you the chance to hear direct from a range of guest speakers, who have previously covered issues such as immigration and labour supply, and the impact of EU legislation on employee relations post-Brexit. You’ll also have the opportunity to develop essential HR practitioner skills through a series of practical workshops in areas such as finance, employment law, interviewing, disciplinary and grievance handling, counselling and negotiating. Working in teams, you might simulate dealing with a disciplinary hearing, for example, or conducting a job evaluation exercise. When studying people resourcing, you may participate in an assessment centre or practise your interviewing skills.

The Architecture MA offers a unique opportunity for graduates interested in the intersection of architectural design, theory and research, encouraging students to develop their own positions and identities as creative practitioners and thinkers. A range of thematic and contextual concerns are offered and explored through the course using unconventional and imaginative methods of design, research and representation. These include cultural identity, architecture and society, political architecture, contested landscapes and digital design. These diverse fields of inquiry and their impact on our cities are underpinned by integrating ‘other’ voices such as post-colonialism, critical theory, feminist theory and race studies. The course promotes methodological and representational innovation, with participants using techniques such as social mapping, interactive installations, film and conceptual modelling to stimulate projects towards high-levels of spatial, material and formal resolution.

Interior architecture is a distinct and separate discipline to architecture. Its specific focus is the creation of innovative and exciting interior spaces, primarily through the adaptation and spatial manipulation of existing buildings.

The course is concerned not just with physical intervention but also with how space is understood and occupied. The course implicitly embeds issues of sustainability, through its concern with reuse, and refurbishment, as well as the critical ability to respond appropriately to a given context.

It is interdisciplinary in its outlook and acknowledges the importance of other closely related areas, including interior design, exhibition design, set and lighting design, retail and product design, interior conservation as well as multidisciplinary and traditional design practice.

The Interior Architecture BA course is designed to equip you with the practical skills and theoretical knowledge required to pursue a career in interior architecture and design-related fields and/or go on to further awards in tertiary education, most typically a Master's qualification.

The design modules promote creativity, aesthetic sensibility and intellectual enquiry, together with the skills needed to work individually and in groups in developing design proposals.

The work produced in the design studios forms the basis of your design portfolio through which you will prepare for practice/employment, or in support of your application for postgraduate study. Technical skills, cultural context, design management and economics, and the commercial aspect of interiors necessary for practice are integrated with design projects.

Top reasons to study with us

• State-of-the-art facilities, including designated studio spaces open 7 days a week at our Marylebone Campus, creating a vibrant academic and creative studio culture. Our fully staffed workshops are equipped with CNC, laser-cutting and rapid prototyping equipment.
• Extracurricular projects – you'll have opportunities to work on live projects with real clients, live competitions and exhibitions beyond the classroom. Recent collaborators have included the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Freud Museum London and Battersea Arts Centre.
• Extracurricular workshops – previous workshops have included a steam-bending workshop with Samuli Naamanka Design Finland, a papercrete workshop with Aberrant Architecture, an art depot workshop and a workshop with local schoolchildren working with Disabled Artists Making Dis/Ordinary Space.
• Expert speakers and workshop leaders to help you develop niche, in-demand skills. Previous workshop leaders have included a lighting designer, a production designer, a motion graphics designer and a filmmaker.
• An International outlook – previous opportunities have included a five-day field trip to a European destination for all third years, a semester-long exchange to Australia, China and Oslo for second years, and one-off travel opportunities such as visiting the VOLA factory in Denmark or a design workshop run with students from the Pratt Institute in New York.

Looking for a business management degree with a difference? The opportunity to work in sports management is a dream for anyone with a passion for sport, but you don’t have to be a sports fanatic to take this degree. One of the most exciting industries, sport and leisure in the UK alone employs 580,000 people. In 2019, more than a third of those employed in the field of sport in the EU-27 was aged between 15-29.

Developed in partnership with some of London’s leading sports clubs, agencies and governing bodies, including Queens Park Rangers and the MCC at Lords, our BA includes practical, professional work experience with a sports club or agency to get you work-ready.

Whether you go on to work as a marketing manager for a Premiership club, a sports analyst, sponsorship executive or diversity advisor, the career pathways are varied and rewarding.

Our degree provides an innovative, industry-focused programme that develops your knowledge of contemporary business management within the context of the wider sports industry. You will gain an in-depth knowledge of how the industry works. You will also learn to appreciate the internal and external challenges facing sports organisations, such as sustainability, diversity, and the impact of new technologies on sports marketing, management and customer engagement.

Specialist optional modules allow you to tailor your studies to match your interests. They include marketing and management, entrepreneurial enterprise, event management, sustainability, and social media innovation.

Where better to study than a centre of sports excellence? With 12 professional football teams, two premiership rugby team, and two country cricket sides, London is home to iconic sporting venues such as Wembley Stadium, Twickenham, Lord’s Cricket Ground and the Olympic Park in East London.

Project management is now a well-established discipline within the construction industry, applied to projects of all sizes and levels of complexity. On this course, you’ll learn the modern management skills, techniques, and systems to successfully deliver a project from inception to completion, and how to meet a client’s requirements within the constraints of the external environment.

You'll have the chance to apply your skills and knowledge to real-life practical problems through case studies. When possible, we also visit construction sites in London, so you can see how developers overcome some of the issues associated with developing in a challenging environment like the centre of a large metropolis, such as traffic and transportation.

Incorporating the latest digital and analytic marketing practices, the broad curriculum of our Master’s degree reflects the rapidly changing global marketing environment. Whilst at Westminster, you can also secure two internationally-recognised professional qualifications – the Institute of Data and Marketing (IDM) Certificate in Digital Marketing and the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) Global Foundation Certificate, as well as joining the Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR).

Here at Westminster, we’ve been teaching postgraduate degrees in marketing communications for over 20 years. Our goal is to prepare you for professional life in the increasingly complex and dynamic marketing communications industry, incorporating the growing content of digital marketing and new innovations.