LEARNING OUTCOMES

The course aims to introduce students to destination management and marketing, organizations engaged in tourism and characteristics, and problems associated with running a firm in tourism. Major topics of the course are strategy, marketing, the use of the Internet, pricing, and managing staff in hotels, tour operators, cruise lines, conference organizers.

AIMS AND LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

• understand the dynamics of the tourist market

• analyse the characteristics of tourist destinations; identify the components of the tourist destination, the relationships between them and the government mechanisms

• understand tourism firms management and marketing in hotels, tour operators, travel agencies, professional congress organization and cruise lines.

Learning outcomes

• Knowledge and understanding. Students will acquire adequate knowledge of the principles, methodologies and tools of management and marketing of tourism firms and destinations.

• Applied knowledge and understanding. Students will be able to understand and solve problems related to the choice of the most appropriate methodologies to be adopted and to apply the analytical and management tools learned during the course. The ability to manag a tourism firm will be developed, in both its strategic and operational aspects.

• Judgement skills. Students will be able to analyze the tourism market scenario in order to identify and understand evolutionary trends and prepare appropriate responses from the tourism companies and destinations point of view.

• Communication skills. Students will acquire the technical language typical of the discipline to communicate clearly and unambiguously with specialist and non-specialist interlocutors.

• Learning capabilities. Students will develop adequate critical learning skills, which will allow them to continue to deepen independently the main topics of the discipline both in further education and in the working contexts in which they will operate.

TEACHING METHODS

Conventional

Traditional lectures are integrated with readings from economic press and individual/group works, business cases discussion.

Attendance is not compulsory.

Attention: the course is taught in Italian.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

Understanding the tourism and the hospitality business

Services characteristics

Basic tourism firms management

The elements of a tourist destination. The tourist destination system. The role of DMO. Destination marketing.

Hospitality management

Hospitality strategies and hotel chains

The hospitality and tourism marketing mix

Tour operators management and strategies

The tour operators marketing mix

Travel agencies management and strategies

Travel agencies marketing mix

Cruise lines management and strategies

Cruise lines marketing mix

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Textbook: Benevolo C., Grasso M., Destinazioni e imprese turistiche, FrancoAngeli, Milano, 2019 (green cover).

Textbook is available in the library of the Department of Economics