Travel, Aviation and Tourism Management with Professional Practice Year

Combining theory and practice of tourism and aviation management, this course builds your understanding of the global issues affecting international tourism and aviation. It explores the industry’s challenges of rapid growth; the emergence of new destinations; climate change; and the ethics of managing a business in areas such as the environment and people leadership. Our teaching reacts quickly to industry updates, ensuring you are ready to hit the ground running when you start your career in the sector.

Professional Practice Year
Take your course over four years and include a Professional Practice Year after your second year of studies. It is an opportunity to apply your learning in the workplace while enhancing your knowledge and skills through fee-free paid practice. It also builds your CV and industry contacts with many students progressing to employment within their practice-year organisation or institution.

Facilities and specialist equipment

• Access to Oracle Opera hospitality management programme

• Our simulation software ‘Simulate’ allows you to take control of your own airline and gain key insights into airline management

• Excellent Learning Resources Centre with an extensive library, giving you access to a wide range of academic and industry knowledge including e-journals, e-books and information databases as well as traditional printed books

• Access to SIMnet Microsoft Office training, with the opportunity to gain Excel certification

Your student experience

Our aviation teaching team includes experienced industry professionals in the fields of airlines, airport operators and other aviation roles worldwide.

Our aviation industry links include London Luton Airport; the Civil Aviation Authority; and Highlands and Islands Airports.

Take advantage of local industry-relevant employment opportunities such as London Luton Airport, TUI, EasyJet, Luton Hoo Hotel, and leading hotel brands such as Hilton, Ibis and Marriott.

Field trips are organised in conjunction with the Student Union’s Tourism and Aviation Society and may include visits to London Luton Airport, TUI, Olympic Park and the World Travel Market.

Attend talks from international aviation and tourism professionals, broadening your understanding of what is possible in the field. Recent speakers have had influential positions at Highlands and Islands Airports Ltd, London Luton Airport, Enterprise Rent-a-car and Wizz Air.

Benefit from our Aviation Job Fair, attended by airlines and airports, providing opportunities to explore further employment or internships.

Course Modules

Year 1
Applied numeracy for business – Develop key numeracy skills vital to your future employability. Beginning your professional business journey – Take on business challenges and collaborate with peers in a professional environment. Structure and development of the air transport industry – Build your knowledge of the complex regulations and business of the commercial air transport industry. Managing people in tourism and aviation – Learn people-managing skills in the commercial tourism and aviation industry.

Year 2
Tourism and society – Develop your awareness of how tourism and society interact to create change. Airline revenue management – Show a detailed understanding of airline finance and economics. Data and research methods for business – Learn research and data-analysis methods to support you in applying research findings to business issues. Global airline, airport and cargo operations management – Explore commercial airline and airport markets, fleet and network planning, and cargo air transport. Marketing and digital transformation in travel and tourism – Understand the key principles of marketing, with a focus on the benefits and threats of the on-going digital transformation of marketing.

You also have a choice of four optional modules:

• Strategic business planning

• Employment law

• Contingency planning and crisis management

• Managing the experience economy

Year 3
Tourist destination development – Explore the factors leading to the development of places as tourist destinations as well as the exploitation of destination environments as a tourism resource. Managing safety and security for air transport – Examine the regulations and systems that increase safety and security while investigating the factors that contribute to aircraft accidents and incidents. Business project – Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the research process, critically analysing data and using it to produce an evidence-based business project.

You also have a choice of four optional modules:

• Ethics and corporate social responsibility for business

• Management and leadership

• Managing sustainable destinations

• Entrepreneurship and business excellence.

Every effort is made to ensure this information is accurate at the point of publication on the UCAS website. For the most up-to-date information, please refer to our website.

In line with the Business School's commitment to practice-based education a large part of the assessment will relate to your demonstration of your ability to synthesise class room learning with real life scenarios within the international tourism and aviation industry. We will want to see that you understand the theory and have developed critical thinking skills which help you evaluate the relevance of what you have learned.

To assess this range of integration of theory and skills into sound practice we use a range of methods for example: written exams written assignments portfolios reports individual or group oral presentations and practical skills assessment. The assessments test the ability to construct a reasoned sustained and coherent argument and to articulate it fluently. Students are required to demonstrate an appropriate level of research of independent argument and to reference in an appropriate way. Unit assessment is based on specified learning outcomes and threshold criteria.