Tourism Management

In the first six months of the programme you will explore the fundamentals of tourism and explore the ethical and sustainable issues involved. In the second half of the year, you will do an internship.

Discover the world of tourism

You learn how tourism works around the world. You dive into its history, explore different types of tourism, and learn about important target groups and the roles of destinations and stakeholders. The province of Zeeland becomes your living lab, where you explore coastal tourism and discover the economic, social, and cultural impacts of tourism. You analyse customer journeys, market trends and destination marketing. You finish by creating a visual and promotional concept for Zeeland.

Ethical and sustainable topics

What does it mean to travel responsibly in a world where tourism can both enrich and strain destinations? You explore tourism through an ethical, sustainable, and regenerative lens. You develop your own vision for responsible tourism and consider how tourism industry programs can evolve to support more sustainable futures.

You start your internship

Time to put theory into practice! During your internship, you gain hands-on experience at a tourism organisation and take part in daily tasks and projects. During your internship you explore regenerative business models (business ideas that give back to people and nature), and you discover how new technology is used in tourism.

In your first six months, you will work on modules in the field of cultural awareness and designing experiences. in your second half-year, you will set up a real company together with students from various economics programmes.

Designing experiences

In this module, you learn how to design tourism experiences that truly connect people to a place. For example you explore place branding (how a place is presented), consumer psychology (why people choose certain experiences), and co-creation (designing together with locals and visitors). This helps you understand how stories, landscapes, and local communities can make a place feel special for visitors.

Cultural awareness

Tourism is all about people; meeting them, understanding them, and learning how cultures shape the way we travel and collaborate. You learn to communicate across cultures, work with different perspectives, and understand how leadership, teamwork, and organisational culture vary around the world.

Start a real company with fellow students

During the Student Startup project, you start a real business in six months with students from different economics programmes. You turn an idea into a complete business plan. You look for suppliers, and you promote and sell your product or service. To help your business succeed, you join guest lectures and workshops, and you get guidance from experienced entrepreneurs.

You start the year with a a six-month minor. In your second semester, you will work on a research project.

Minor

You will spend six months deepening or broadening your knowledge during a minor in the Netherlands or abroad. You choose a minor that relates to your specialisation or to tourism in general. You can do your minor at HZ or at another university. Almost all Tourism Management students choose to go abroad, to countries such as Norway, Austria, Canada, United States, Latvia or Thailand

Research project

In the second half of the year you practice your research skills in preparation for your graduation assignment. Together with your project group, you carry out a project in the field of tourism and leisure for the duration of 10 weeks, going through the entire graduation process.

This is the year in which you will graduate. But before you do so, you will spend six months working on projects with students from different disciplines.

Collaborating with students from other programmes

In your first semester, you team up with students from other programmes and work together on assignments from real companies or organisations. Together, you will come up with smart, creative solutions and learn what it is like to work together in an interdisciplinary manner in a professional environment.

Graduation

At Tourism Management, you can (partly) personalise your graduation year. You do an internship in which you decide for yourself what to focus on. You can opt for a more theoretical approach with in-depth research or a practical approach.

In the Netherlands, the standard of higher education is maintained through an accreditation system that ensures legal regulation and quality assurance. All programmes at HZ University of Applied Sciences are examined and approved by the accreditor, the Accreditation Organisation of the Netherlands and Flanders (NVAO). This means that they meet the quality requirements for accredited higher education set by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, ensuring that you are always choosing a programme of high standard.