Sustainable Innovation in Hospitality (Master) course summary
The 1-year master’s programme in Sustainable Innovation in Hospitality develops your expertise in service, hospitality, and customer satisfaction, while exploring sustainability, entrepreneurship, globalisation, and working in multicultural teams.
Lead the future of hospitality
Step into a programme that blends theory with real-world practice and prepares you to become a forward-thinking hospitality professional. Through engaging lectures, interactive workshops, and group projects, you’ll gain the knowledge and skills to innovate, lead strategically, and shape a sustainable future for the industry.
The curriculum is built around four key themes:
You can also specialise through a minor, participate in research projects, or gain hands-on experience during a four-week summer internship at Notiz Hotel, a commercial 4-star on-campus training hotel.
Bachelor vs Master: same industry, different level
A bachelor prepares you to manage hospitality organisations, focusing on operations, tactical and strategic roles, and applying existing business models. Sustainability is treated as a mindset and responsibility. This leads to a strong foundation as a strategic hospitality manager.
This master takes you to the next level. You learn to transform hospitality systems, focusing on innovation, foresight, and long-term strategy. You design new business models and value creation systems, with sustainability as a strategic and systemic driver. After completing the programme, you are equipped to step into roles as a change leader and innovator, ready to shape the future of the industry.
Explore your master's year
Across two semesters, each with two modules, you will combine knowledge, skills, and practical experience. At the same time, you will work on a research project and choose from a range of electives. Read below to learn more about the modules, research project, and electives.
In this module, you will tackle real challenges from the hospitality sector. You will learn to develop innovative solutions that respond to current trends and evolving guest needs, combining creativity with a critical, research-driven approach. You will build skills in analysing problems, collecting and interpreting data, and supporting your decisions. At the same time, you will develop your leadership abilities and professional growth, focusing on collaboration and driving change.
Together with hospitality organisations, you will develop innovative guest experiences, such as a new resort concept, a personalised guest experience app, or smart solutions that help organisations better respond to guest needs.
Sustainability in Hospitality explores innovative, future-focused approaches to sustainable development in the hospitality industry. In this module, you will learn to integrate sustainable practices into real-world hospitality contexts, develop creative solutions for future challenges, and consider how different systems and stakeholders are interconnected. You will strengthen your leadership skills and ability to drive meaningful change, while translating sustainability concepts into actionable projects that make a tangible impact.
In collaboration with hospitality organisations such as Hotel Jakarta Amsterdam, you will work on sustainable innovation challenges and develop future-oriented concepts or prototypes, which you present to professionals from the industry.
This module prepares managers to lead with agility, insight, and innovation in today’s fast-paced and complex global landscape. In this practice-oriented module, you will develop your strategic leadership skills by combining essential management principles with hands-on decision-making in real-world scenarios. You will learn to analyse complex challenges, apply foresight to your decisions, and move beyond traditional strategies with creative, innovative approaches. Throughout the module, you will also strengthen your leadership capabilities, gaining the confidence and tools to drive change and excel as a future-ready strategic leader.
You will work on strategic challenges from international hotel chains such as Hilton, Marriott, Accor, and Shangri-La, developing innovative future strategies for hospitality organisations.
Strategic Foresight equips you to navigate an uncertain world, where multiple possible futures make decision-making complex. In this module, you will learn to anticipate and prepare for different scenarios, applying structured methods to explore potential outcomes. You will strengthen your ability to make informed decisions even when results are unclear, while cultivating a future-oriented mindset that prioritises long-term impact and strategic insight.
Your Graduation Project is the pinnacle of your master’s journey, giving you the opportunity to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and competencies you have developed throughout the programme. It allows you to meet the Dutch master’s standard and end-level qualification, showcasing your achievements in a tangible and meaningful way. The project is tailored to your background, interests, and career aspirations, giving you the freedom to explore a topic that truly matters to you. You can carry it out within a hospitality company, at our Academy of International Hospitality Research, or as a self-directed study project, combining theory and practice in a way that reflects your individual goals.
- Entrepreneurship & Innovation: Discover how to create innovative business opportunities in service-oriented enterprises. You will learn to leverage trends and emerging markets while developing a concrete business concept. The highlight of the module is a study trip to Italy, where you will present your solution to the CEO of Ciù Ciù Wine Academy.
- Female Leadership: Explore leadership in hospitality through the lens of female leadership. This module deepens your understanding of diversity, inclusion, and leadership styles, while helping you develop practical skills and design an intervention to promote more inclusive leadership.
- Critical Events Perspectives: Learn how events can transform people and places. You will analyse, design, and evaluate events, gaining hands-on experience during a major European business event.
- Contemporary Issues in Heritage & Tourism: Investigate how heritage contributes to tourism, leisure, and events. You will assess heritage in real-world contexts and participate in a study trip to Amsterdam or another European city.
- Critical Issues in Destination- and Hospitality Development (South Africa): Develop strategic and sustainable solutions for destinations, exploring how tourism can benefit local communities, preserve culture, and protect the environment. Experience these challenges in an international context.
Please note: Excursions and day trips are at your own expense.
Featured project: What will a holiday park look like in 2041?
What will a holiday park look like in 2041? And what decisions do you need to make today to remain both attractive and sustainable in the future?
Course Catalogue
Master the art of hostmanship
In our rapidly changing world, hostmanship is focused on the one thing that will never change; ‘Our human desire to be taken care of and to feel welcomed.’ Hereby we believe that it is an art to create meaningful encounters between guests and hosts. Within our optional Hostmanship programme you will learn the basics of our practical philosophy and we will challenge you to apply your insights in your assignments (pressure cooker style). After succesfully finishing the programme you will be awarded with a ‘certificate of completion’ from the Hostmanship Group.
Practical approach of Sustainable Innovation in Hospitality (Master)
We aim to help you put theory into practice as quickly as possible. Through our educational concept, Design-Based Education (DBE), you work in small teams of students, teachers, researchers and industry professionals. You tackle current, real-life issues developing and adapting your visions and ideas to form a solid solution.
Is this the degree for you?
If you're confident this degree is the one for you, then why not apply online straightaway? Or pick one of the other options to help you take the next step.
