The 100% Online Master of Science in Travel and Tourism consists of 10 three-credit courses. Students take one course at a time over a five-week period, equating to three courses each semester. This structure enables full-time working professionals to enroll full-time and complete the program in as few as 13 months.
The program can also be completed on a part-time basis and at a pace that is suitable to a student’s work or personal schedule. Students have up to four years to complete the program.
Even as a student enrolled in an online program, the opportunity to collaborate and work with other students and faculty are important. The Master of Science in Travel and Tourism consists of live weekly classes that enable engagement with faculty and students. The weekly sessions, conveniently held through Zoom, integrate discussion and project-based learning activities in which students break into small groups to solve authentic problems faced by today’s travel and tourism leaders. Additionally, all content is available 24/7 in a mobile-friendly format.
The Master of Science in Travel and Tourism is built to fit the schedules of busy professionals and frequent travelers. The structure enables full-time working professionals to complete the degree in as few as 13 months or take up to four years as a part-time student.
Spring semester (Courses may start in January or February)
Fall semester (Courses may start in August, September, or October)
Each course is delivered online over a five-week period. Live and collaborative web conferencing sessions with faculty and classmates are held weekly. Additional coursework and activities will be required throughout the week
STHM’s world-class travel and tourism faculty designed the master’s program to consist of eight travel and tourism courses tailored for professional success.
The global tourism and travel industry is experiencing extraordinary growth, with more people travelling internationally than ever before. Furthermore, with advancements in technology and travel, more destinations are open and available for potential tourists. While this bodes well for the travel and tourism industry, the current scenario presents the unique challenge of cross cultural interaction among employees of the travel and tourism industry as well as with guests of foreign cultures. In the increasingly globalized world of travel and tourism, having a high level of cultural intelligence (CQ) is a required to deal with the challenge of constant cross cultural interactions and organizational work.This course will focus on the concept of CQ, and provide students with both a theoretical background of this concept, as well as practical approaches to using this concept within the travel and tourism industry. It will begin by exploring the concept of culture, and how culture is developed and passed on. Following work on culture, students will engage with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to understand how cultural differences effect behavior within the travel and tourism industry. After developing this foundational knowledge, the class will explore the concept of CQ. Students will gain an understanding of the CQ construct, and the four underlying components of cognition, metacognition, motivation, and behavior that makeup CQ. Students will learn how CQ is different from other similar forms of intelligence such as social and emotional intelligence. The class will conclude by focusing on strategies for increasing CQ, as well as looking at various case studies on how to measure CQ and the benefits of having a high level of CQ for working in the globalized world of travel and tourism.
Tourism businesses are increasingly utilizing management tools to incorporate sustainability considerations into their operations and decision-making processes. For some tourism businesses these sustainable practices have been incorporated due to ethical considerations of society and the environment, while many are motivated due to pressures from stakeholders, regulators, and customers. Many tourism businesses now recognize that incorporating sustainable practices are not only beneficial for society, but can also provide a long term competitive advantage.This course will begin by looking at the three major areas that make up sustainability: economic sustainability, socio-cultural sustainability, and environmental sustainability. Following this, students will examine how the international tourism industry effects each of these areas of sustainability, and the interconnectedness of these impacts. Students will then investigate the main principles and practices for sustainable tourism development at the local, regional, national, and international level. Students will be introduced to important tools and business skills for incorporating sustainable practices into tourism management and development through exposure to international case studies, as well as international standards and indicators for sustainable tourism practices.
This course focuses on the role that economics and policy play within the tourism industry. The course will focus on specific economic and policy theories that are essential for the tourism industry. Topics include an in depth study of the theory of tourism demand and supply, using a cost-benefit analysis, tax policy impacts, tourism valuation, economic analysis in management, and marketing and policy decisions. The course provides students an environment to become proficient in collecting and understanding economic data and models, determining the value of recreational resources, and analyzing tourism related projects across the private, public, and voluntary sectors of the tourism industry.
This course is designed to introduce you to contemporary elementary applied statistics and to provide you with an appreciation for the uses of statistics in business, economics, everyday life, as well as hands-on capabilities needed in your later coursework and professional employment.
Please note this course must be taken before the Tourism Analytics and the Tourism Economics and Policy courses. It is advised that students take the Quantitative Methods for Business course as early as possible to avoid delay in course scheduling.
This course aims to provide tourism industry professionals with the necessary tools to guide/aid decision making. The course is designed to familiarize students with quantitative data management and analytic skills such as econometric modeling, forecasting, interpretation of results, and development of conclusions, using tourism and hospitality information databases, as well as analytical software. Specific emphasis is given to econometric modeling of tourism assets that have cross and/or spatial dependence, in conjunction with applicable urban economics and finance theories. The course has two main goals: development of skill in the use of advanced data analysis techniques and the development of expertise in the interpretation and communication of their results.
Please note the course Quantitative Methods for Business must be taken before the Tourism Analytics course.
These courses combined with a course in Statistics from the Fox School of Business Online MBA and an Applied Project or Internship, create a degree that is unique and unprecedented in the academic marketplace.
For questions about the application process, the program or to schedule a personalized consultation with a member of the graduate enrollment team, please contact:
Michelle Siporin
Assistant Director of Graduate Enrollment
michelle.siporin@temple.edu