Modules offered for the Tourism Management Degree

MODULE NAMES AND CONTENT:

• Tourism Management (TMA)
• Tourism Development (TMD)
• Travel Practice and Operations (TPO)

Tourism Managemement(TMA)

TMA 1541
A brief explanation of the field of tourism, what a tourist is and tourism products, including man-made, natural and socio-cultural attractions, and the five phases of the tourism experience and the six stages in the tourist area life cycle. We study tourism as a sustainable resource and the need for responsible tourism development, and the major role-players (attractions, accommodation, transport, travel intermediaries and public and private support systems) involved in the tourism industry. Analysis of tourism systems.

TMA 1641:
Introducing the motivations and decisions to travel; tourism behavior; influences on the motivations; challenges in the tourism marketplace. Decision models; the role of perceptions and the complexity of tourist’s decisions. The tourists’ buying process: awareness, information search, attitudes, evaluation of decisions, and post-decision evaluations. The tourism market: market, suppliers, competitors. Business-(micro environment) and macro environment of the tourism business. Strategic management: developing business vision and mission statements, planning and environmental scanning and SWOT analysis. Strategic analysis and organizational objectives, implementing strategies, and strategic control processes.

TMA 2541
Management of, and managerial functions in, the tourism industry. The management tasks of planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Customer service in tourism organizations: characteristics of service; the SERVQUAL model; customer satisfaction; procedural and personal factors, and service integration. People management in the tourism industry: the nature of service and models and practices of human resource management. Stress in the tourism industry.

TMA 2641
Operational management: service systems and encounters in tourism, service providers and customers. The inanimate environment of the tourism industry, service blueprinting and service demand. The nature, role and functions of financial management for tourism. Financial performance management, working capital and budget planning and control. Financial management risks. Economic-, social-, and environmental impacts of/on tourism, and responsible tourism.

TMA 3541
Marketing principles for the tourism industry; characteristics of tourism marketing. The role of the tourism marketer and researcher, and the internal marketer. The segmentation of the tourism market, tourist buying behavior and tourism business behavior.

Tourism Development (TMD)

TMD 1541
Introduction to the tourism phenomena where we define tourism and distinguish between leisure, recreation and tourism. Tourism is described and analysed as a system comprising different parts, external influences and how the system functions as a whole. The different dimensions of tourism are identified. The nature and allocation of tourism resources. Forms of tourism enterprises, the tourism distribution system and levels of the system, the uniqueness of tourism products, tourism sector organizations, and future tourism industry trends. The emergence, growth and development of tourism from early times to the 21st century. The influences of the industrial revolution of the development of tourism; growth factors and global tourism patterns. Tourism in space and into the future.

TMD 1641
Key concepts of tourism demand; the societal factors that determine the level of tourism demand in a population. Travel propensity of a population using demand determinants as criteria for evaluation. The role of motivators in tourism demand, and the importance of psychographic segmentation in a competitive tourism economy. Main indicators of tourism demand. The need for accurate and reliable information for public and private role-players in tourism. Problems with tourism information and research in developing countries. Definitions of tourists, visitors, and excursionists. Tourism measurement terminology, origins of foreign tourists for travelling, and methods used in tourism research.

TMD 2541
The destination as an integrated collection of tourism products. The role, type and owners of attractions. The hospitality sector: types of accommodation and catering, facilities and services. The role of transport in tourism destination development, and modes of transport. Support services and the infrastructure and services underpinning the development of tourism destinations. Different aspects of destination development, and the roles of stakeholders at destinations. Levels and roles of destination organizations, and the institutional structure of tourism in South Africa. The role of international and regional organisations in destination development; the significance of financial influences in destination development; the role of private sector organistaions and current issues in destination development.

TMD 2641
Different types of tourism development. Business and leisure (coastal-, cruise-, cultural-, educational-, events-, health-, urban-, sports-, religious-, and nature-based tourism). The resources and setting for each type of tourism development; the activities of tourists in each type of tourism activity; and the destination development issues specific to each type of tourism. MICE tourism. Tourism and economics: economic growth and economic development. The economic benefits and costs of tourism for destinations and communities. Measuring the economic growth impacts of tourism, possible constraints on tourism development, and strategies to ensure that tourism contributes to economic development.

TMD 3541
What is meant by the environment? The importance of environmental quality on tourism development. The positive and negative environmental impacts on tourism and strategies that destination managers and planners use to reduce negative environmental impacts. What is culture? Recognise the changes in relationships between tourists and host communities in tourism development., and distinguish between social and cultural impacts on tourism. Socio-cultural benefits and costs of tourism for destination and host communities. The factors that determine the affect of tourism on host communities; tourism as a development tool on communities, and strategies to minimize social and cultural impacts and increase positive impacts.

TMD 3641
Defining the cultural tourism product, and the elements and characteristics of the cultural tourism product. The approaches to cultural tourism product development, including the South African product. ‘Proudly South African cultural and heritage products. Attitudes of the popularity of cultural heritage attractions. The cultural differences as determinants of destination popularity, and the ‘most visited cultural heritage sites world-wide and in South Africa.
The need and motivation in cultural tourism. Mass tourism demand on the cultural tourism product. The experiential economy, the consumption of culture and the characteristics of demand for cultural tourism, and niche markets for cultural/heritage tourism.

Travel Practice and Operations (TPO)

TPO 1541
Overview of the travel sector of the tourism industry, tourism distribution: components, systems and strategies, the historical development of travel and the South African travel sector, and the future of distribution of tourism in South Africa: changes, developments and the future.

TPO 1641
Statutory and regulatory requirements for the travel sector, internationally and in South Africa. A study of travel retailing in South Africa. Travel agents and the development and management of the travel sector, especially the human resource functions; operations and technological aspects.

TPO 2541
Business-, corporate-, and incentive travel in South Africa: history, role, functions, role-players, options and benefits, future of business travel.

TPO 2641
The incentive holiday: discretionary nature, characteristics of leisure travel and family stages. Phases of travel and benefits.The tour wholesaler: the role of the wholesaler, setting up a wholesale business and distribution channels. Tour marketing: operations cycle, the tour product, types of tours and tour preparation. Demand for tours and designing tours, tour itineraries, costing and promotion of tours.

TPO 3541
Tour management and tour members: behavior of tour members, administration and operations while on tour, tour reports, strategies for managing tours, cultural sensitivity and tours for physically challenged tourists.
Introduction to events management: types of events, the events manager, functions and roles of the manager, and events organization.

TPO 3641
Characteristics of the entrepreneur, business ideas. Market segmentation, questionnaires to determine business viability. Marketing plan. Financial viability and plan. Tour business structure and form of business. Preparation and submission of a business plan for one’s own tourism business.

The following subjects are offered by other departments and school of the University:
Accounting (ACC)
Commercial Law (COL)
Statistics (STA)
Mathematics (MAT)
Economics (ECO)
Introductory English (ECS)

ADDMISSION REQUIREMENTS POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

The Tourism Management Department does not offer post-graduate qualifications. However, students wishing to proceed to an honours degree may join the Department of Business Management and study for the B Com Honours degree in Business Management, and continue with an M- and PhD qualification in Business Management. The admission requirements are to pass Tourism Management and Tourism Development with a 60% mark in the third year modules.

MODULES ON OFFER FOR B COM (HONS)

The course is taken in two parts over two years. The syllabus consists of nine written 3-hour papers and a dissertation. Each paper carries equal marks for examination purposes. Failure to pass a paper at any one examination will have no bearing on papers already passes, or papers written simultaneously with the failed paper. Credits will, therefore, be retained for papers already passed for a period of two years.

The courses must be selected from the following list, in consultation with the Heads of Department:
BMA 5521 Research Methodology (compulsory)
BMA 5611 Dissertation (compulsory)
BMA 5529 Tourism Management Fundamentals (compulsory)
BMA 5629 Tourism Strategy and Policy (compulsory)

And five (5) other modules from the following list:
BMA 5522 Strategic Marketing and Strategic Analysis
BMA 5622 Marketing Strategies and Implementation
BMA 5523 Marketing Research Process and Implementation
BMA 5623 Areas of Marketing Research
BMA 5524 Marketing Communication Management Process
BMA 5624 Marketing Communication Mix
BMA 5525 Entrepreneurship
BMA 5625 Business Planning
BMA 5626 Sales Management Process
BMA 5527 Managing Purchasing and Supply Activities
BMA 5627 Instruments of Purchasing and Supply Management
BMA 5528 Management Fundamentals
BMA 5628 Strategic Management

Subjects offered:

– Local Government Administration (LGA)
– Public Administration (PAD)
– Development Management Studies (DMS)