BA (Hons) International Tourism Management with Air Travel

Why study this subject?

If you have a keen interest in working in the international travel and tourism sectors, then this subject is a perfect fit for you. Pursuing a degree in these areas offers an understanding of the behind-the-scenes operations, planning and management required by employers in these industries.

This degree will give you a comprehensive insight across all aspects of tourism, with a focus on air transport, helping you gain the knowledge and transferable skills to start a career in these vast and varied sectors.

There is a wide range of career paths that this degree could help you to take your first steps in, including working for airlines or tour operators, marketing agencies, ground handlers, destination management companies, tourism planning, events management and air cargo operators.

Why study at Buckinghamshire New University?

Our BA (Hons) in International Tourism with Air Travel has been specifically designed to ensure you are learning the latest from the industry, our academics work hard to ensure your degree keeps pace with the continuous changes within the sector so that you graduate with the most up-to-date knowledge and skills that this energetic sector demands. Our teaching team includes skilled lecturers who have a high level of working knowledge from years of industry experience, which will allow you to gain a deep insight into the latest trends and requirements of tourism and air travel.

As well as receiving top-class lectures and seminars, you will also be supported by personal tutors, module leaders and course leaders. In addition, guest speakers often deliver sessions to enrich your learning – the School has been proud to have welcomed speakers from the likes of TUI and British Airways.

We are all about gaining practical and real-life experience, and our programme offers seasonal employment opportunities so that you can gain valuable skills to help kickstart your future career – previous placements have been with London Heathrow Airport, easyJet and British Airways among others.

Being accredited by The Institute of Travel and Tourism means that you can hit the ground running from day one through gaining student membership of the institute. This membership affords you access to their rich industry-focused networking and careers events.

Alongside your studies, we also offer seasonal employment opportunities to enable you to gain valuable to help kickstart your future career – previous placements have been with London Heathrow Airport, easyJet and British Airways among others.

Our Institute of Travel and Tourism accreditation sets your foot right in the door of these industries from day one through the automatic student membership of the institute. This membership affords you access to their rich industry-focused networking and careers events.

As a BNU student, you will automatically become a member of Bucks Students’ Union giving you access to a wide range of services that we offer for free. You’ll also be able to join the Aviation Society where you’ll have the ability to attend a variety events and experiences. Some examples of what we’ve done in the past include tours of NATS, a Boeing Flight Simulator experience at CAE and a tour at easyJet.

What will I study?

On this course, you will get to explore the key issues facing the travel and aviation sectors and gain the skills employers are looking for.

We will introduce you to the variety of social and economic impacts that the tourism sector drive forward at destinations and upon societies. You are also introduced to the hospitality sector and tourism service operations through areas such as international tourism destinations and attractions. This will strengthen your academic and professional skills to enhance your employment prospects. Two specialty areas are also offered, focusing specifically on the air travel sector.

As you progress through the course, you are provided with in-depth exposure to sustainable and responsible tourism operations as you study the business tourism sector and niche tourism markets such as music tourism, religious tourism, culinary tourism and dance tourism among many others. The provision is complemented by topics on aviation management. At this level, you will also be introduced to research methods to secure your success at writing a dissertation in your final year and are offered the opportunity to undertake a period of seasonal employment.

In your final year, you will study critical and contemporary issues in tourism such as dark tourism, the use of animals in tourism, sex tourism, terrorism and tourism, and the impact of pandemics on tourism among others. You’ll also study the management of tourism organisations at strategic levels in addition to the air travel-specific areas. You will also be given the option to either write a dissertation or study a course on business and enterprise should you prefer to choose to focus on entrepreneurship instead of academic research.

By the time you finish this degree, you will have specific knowledge of the day-to-day operation and management of the various tourism sectors.

How will I be taught and assessed?

The dedicated and supportive course team are committed to nurturing your development, ensuring you can graduate with the skills and capabilities needed for a successful and fulfilling career.

Modules are delivered through a blend of lectures, interactive seminars, workshops, small-group activities and debates. They are also supported by e-learning material delivered through the Virtual Learning Environment.

Assessment methods are those considered most appropriate to the nature of the programme. For example, the likelihood of any employee within the travel or aviation industries being called upon to write an essay is minimal. However, the ability to write structured, well researched, analytical, or informative reports and presentations is an undeniable asset to those seeking employment in the industry.

Assessments on the course include:

•  group work
• poster presentations
• the use of quantitative research methods (basic forecasting)
• written assignments (generally reports)
• cumulative exercises
• a reflective journal
• time-constrained assignments (TCAs).

As you progress through the programme, you’ll be expected to undertake longer reports and presentations with an emphasis on assessing analytical and evaluative ability. The final research project/business plan and proposal provide the ultimate test of your ability to source, critically analyse, synthesise and critically evaluate information from a wide variety of sources and to apply your findings and recommendations to real-world situations.

On top of the support provided by the team of tutors, the University also has a dedicated academic skills centre, Student Learning and Achievement. The team here can provide additional support in areas such as presentation skills, time-management, academic reading, referencing or academic writing, research for report preparation and how to prepare effectively for examinations among others.