Tourism (BTO) / BSc

Introduction

The BSc programme in Tourism is a collaborative endeavour of NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences and Wageningen University. For this joint programme, which is taught completely in English, education is being provided in Breda (1st and 2nd year) and Wageningen (3rd year). The societal importance of tourism has grown significantly over the last decades and its contribution to the global economy is well documented: for 2008 922 million international tourist arrivals, Euro 642 billion of international tourism receipts and 219 million tourism jobs (7.6% of total global employment) were calculated. But tourism is more than a generator of the world's economy. It is an agent of change. It is closely connected and intertwined with major global changes in culture, politics, technology, the economy and the environment and can contribute to the solution of complex problems in contemporary societies. It affects the quality of life and social well-being of individuals and regions and plays an important role in community, regional and urban development. In this programme the tourism phenomenon is studied from three closely related perspectives that continuously interact with one another: the social sciences, the economic sciences and the environmental sciences. These perspectives coincide with the three pillars of sustainability: people, planet and prosperity (also indicated as 'profit'). To contribute truly to integrated solutions for the global political, financial and climate crises sustainability is the leading principle of both NHTV and WU and is a powerful rational for partnering in this joint programme.

Learning Outcomes

After succesful completion of this BSc programme graduates are expected to:
- have a scientific attitude, as well as a critical and reflective working style;
- have the ability to acquire new knowledge and skills, to develop his competences and reflect on his academic development;
- be able to value the ethical aspects of functioning as an academic professional;
- be able to communicate information, ideas and solutions to tourism professionals and the general public, orally as well as in writing;
- have knowledge of the basic theories and practices of tourism and its contexts;
- have broad knowledge of disciplines relevant to tourism on the social, economic and environmental sciences;
- be able to interpret and integrate knowledge and concepts from the disciplines relevant to tourism in the social, economic and environmental sciences;
- be able to differentiate between and apply the common research techniques in the domain of tourism and had the knowledge and skills to relate theory to empirical work;
- be able to define issues in tourism with the goal to write and carry out a research plan in this domain;
- be able to translate research outcomes into solutions, thereby contributing to the design, organization and management of (policy) interventions in the field of tourism.

Programme Director

Drs J.F.B. Philipsen
Phone: 0317-(4)82771
Email: jan.philipsen@wur.nl

Study Adviser(s)

Drs S. Straatman
Email: straatman.s@nhtv.nl
Phone: 076-5302203

Programme Committee

Chair: Drs. J.F.B. Philipsen
Secretary: J. Welling

Internet

http://www.bto.wur.nl