The one-year Master’s in International Leisure, Tourism & Events Management focuses on sustainability, quality of life and resilience of the industry within the context of global challenges (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals). You will explore relevant theories and key concepts related to leisure and tourism, discuss contemporary challenges and current issues, and use scenario planning as a tool for identifying trends, main drivers of change and possible future developments. During the electives you can specialise and work on real-life projects from the work field. Some of these projects take place abroad (e.g. Portugal and Nepal).
The courses contains different education methods such as seminars, workshops, lectures, presentations, group assignments and guest lectures.
As part of your studies, you will write a master’s thesis. Research classes will support you through the research process and you will be assigned a thesis supervisor and study coach.
Module 1 Experience & Theory Design in Leisure, Tourism and Events (6 EC)
Gain insight into how academic disciplines such as philosophy, human geography, sociology, anthropology and cultural studies contribute to the field of leisure, tourism and events. In groups, you will work on a design challenge faced by the industry, exploring viable solutions that contribute to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Storytelling, transformative and immersive experiences, the role of technology and other aspects will be part of the design challenge.
Module 2 Performance and Impact Management in Leisure, Tourism and Events (6 EC)
Explore how different leisure sectors (sports, events, tourism, recreation, arts and culture) contribute to quality of life (QoL) in society. QoL has become a common aim in international development efforts and is a desirable outcome of activities in the field of leisure, tourism and events. You will explore how both subjective and objective indicators of quality of life can be used to identify ways in which activities (and the solutions you proposed in module 1) can affect residents’ QoL.
Module 3 Transition & Risk Management Of the visitor economy of the future (6 EC)
Analyse, interpret and reflect on tourism and leisure developments and form visions that help the industry prepare for the future and respond adaptively to risks and change. You use scenario planning methodologies and work with the European Tourism Futures Institute as you focus on responding to risks such as climate change, labour market challenges, and other global challenges.
Module 4 Public Management of the visitor economy of the future (6 EC)
You will focus on the critical analysis of public policy making and planning processes in leisure, tourism and events in different contexts and at different levels. You will learn about the way political ideologies influence policy processes and decisions, the role of the state versus the market and the rights of the citizens and their implications for leisure, tourism and events policy as. Last but not least, you will become familiar with a number of planning frameworks and tools in public policy making.
The modules 1 to 4 will be assessed individually (exam, 60%) and by group work (design challenge, 40%)
Personal Professional Development (3 EC)
Work on your international professional network, LinkedIn profile, project management, and sustainable leadership skills.
Research (3 EC)
Gain insight into research methodologies and how to apply them in leisure, tourism and events studies. Research skills will be applied during the design challenges in semester 1.
Minor electives (6 EC)
In the second semester, you can choose between five electives:
1. Research and Consultancy Projects - Sustainable Development of Tourism Destinations (RUN-EU Short Advanced Programme)
Carry out a research project for the industry with support from EFTI, the leisure & tourism research unit at NHL Stenden. The elective is part of RUN EU which means that you will do this elective with students from other European universities, either in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the European Union.
2. Entrepreneurship & Innovation
Gain the skills and framework necessary to create business opportunities in service-orientated organisations, or new companies. You do this by developing entrepreneurial and innovative solutions
3. Critical Events Perspectives (RUN-EU Short Advanced Programme)
Understand the influences events have on transforming people and places by examining the ethical issues of designing, managing and evaluating events. The elective is part of RUN EU which means that you will do this elective with students from other European universities, either in the Netherlands or elsewhere in the European Union.
4. Contemporary Issues in Heritage
Assess the potential of heritage in contemporary society with respect to the leisure, tourism and events industries in a given situation. Includes a field trip to Amsterdam or other European city.
5. Inclusive Tourism Destinations in Nepal
In cooperation with GATE college and Kathmandu University in Nepal, work with local organisations and students co-creating an upcoming tourism destination in Nepal.
The field trips are at own costs, except for RUN-EU projects where students receive EU Funding.
Personal Professional Development (3 EC)
You will work further on your international professional network and career path, matching your interests with the Master thesis and chosen elective.
Research and Master’s thesis (21 EC)
You will choose a topic for your Master thesis after semester 1. Therefore you will have a good overview of contemporary issues and challenges that the industry is facing and what you are most interested in yourself.
At the start of semester 2 you will get a series of in-depth research classes to get you going with your thesis. You will do research, summarise your findings, and draw academic-based conclusions to finalise your master’s thesis. You will be supported by your thesis supervisor.
As part of your course, you will work on research projects from the European Tourism Futures Institute (ETFI). Most of the lecturers in the master's programme are also researchers at ETFI. In module 1, you will learn about product development and innovation in leisure, tourism and events. In module 3, you will investigate what changes the tourism, leisure and events sector is set to undergo over the next two decades. These insights are essential in this fast-changing industry with constantly changing trends. In module 4, you can choose to do an ETFI project as an elective subject to gain more experience into policy advice, market research, and consultancy.
NHL Stenden’s research groups bring together people from the industry and researchers from universities of applied sciences. Students are stimulated to be actively involved as they work on projects from the industry that are initiated by our research group. For this master, the European Tourism Futures Institute provides a rich research context with a professorship in Scenario Planning.
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