LEARNING OUTCOMES

9 CFU:

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, travel agencies, tour operators, cruise lines and conference organizers. The course also provides knowledge for the management and governance of tourist destinations.

6 CFU:

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, travel agencies and tour operators.

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.

The course consists of 54 hours of lectures, organised as follows:  

- Prof.ssa Benevolo: 18 hours of knowledge acquisition on service firm management and hotel management

- Prof. Grasso: 18 of knowledge acquisition on travel agencies and tour operators + 18 hours of knowledge acquisition on cruise enterprises, convention organizers and tourist destination marketing and management.

SYLLABUS/CONTENT

For all the students:

Understanding the tourism and the hospitality business

Services characteristics

Basic tourism firms management

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

In addition for students with 9 cfu exam.

Cruise lines management and strategies

Cruise lines marketing mix

The conference market: supply and demand

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

RECOMMENDED READING/BIBLIOGRAPHY

Benevolo C., Grasso M., Destinazioni e  imprese turistiche, Franco Angeli, Milano, 2022.

Alternatively: another textbook covering the topics of the program published here.