Previous knowledge in the field of economics and management is not required.

The Tourism and Heritage Management course aims at providing students with an international approach to the theory and practice of managing tourism destinations in the globalised world.
By discussing a selection of case studies, the course seeks to promote students' participation and critical understanding of opportunities, challenges and issues that tourism organisations have to face in the "glocal" context. In line with the objectives of the Master's degree in ITourDeM, the module focuses on the need for a holistic and multi-stakeholder approach to the management of place-specific cultural resources for promoting innovation in tourism and developing sustainable destinations.
Theories, concepts, tools and business examples discussed during the course will provide students with knowledge and understanding of destination management. Specific competences will be acquired in planning, implementing and evaluating tourism destinations.

The course deals with visitor economy, tourism management and sustainable development by analysing destinations as local systems based on the interaction of private and public stakeholders, their different needs, objectives and relationships. The first part provides a theoretical background and overviews tourism management paradigms and tools. Then, the course examines changes that have resulted from the globalisation of society over the last twenty years and their implications for tourism and heritage management (e.g. overtourism, digital transformations, Covid-19 pandemic, etc.).
In order to provide students with a global perspective on these topics, the course discusses different approaches and practices in the management of tourism destinations and local resources and analyses in-depth case studies.

The following topics are addressed:
_ Tourism in the perspective of sustainable development
_ Destination planning, management and governance
_ Stakeholder management, partnerships and community engagement
_ Culture-based tourism development
_ The management of tourism services
_ Destination marketing

• 1.  (A) Morrison A.M. Marketing and Managing Tourism Destinations Routledge, London and New York, 2019 » Pagine/Capitoli: part I, chapters 1-9, pp. 1-370
• 2.  (C) Cantino V., Culasso F.., Racca G. Smart Tourism McGraw-Hill Education, Milano, 2018
• 3.  (C) Martini U., edited by Management e marketing delle destinazioni turistiche territoriali. Metodi, approcci e strumenti McGraw-Hill Education, Milano, 2017

Additional readings and teaching materials will be available to students on the course webpage.

• The course will be delivered via lectures, group discussion and homework. International, national and local case studies will be presented and discussed during lectures. Study visits and meetings could also be arranged. Moreover, students are required to complete a short piece of project work (e.g. a slide presentation): those who attend the course are expected to lead a classroom discussion related to their presentation, while those who are not able to attend the course can present their project work at the exam. More instructions about project works (e.g. sources, structure, etc.) will be given at the beginning of the course.

• The course is assessed by an oral exam in order to verify knowledge and understanding of tourism and heritage management. The presentation and discussion of the required project work are also evaluated as a means to understand students' ability to apply knowledge on a case study and formulate judgments in the field of tourism and heritage management.
  The final evaluation (a maximum total of 30 marks available) is obtained through the analysis of the following criteria: knowledge and understanding (up to 10 marks); critical elaboration and problem-solving (up to 10 marks); communication skills (up to 10 marks).
  

English

English