In a bid to support careers in Geography, we have started a weekly blog where we explore Geography-related degrees in detail, including what sort of thing students can expect to study over the 3 year course (including field work and possible dissertation focus), the typical entry requirements, universities that offer it, and the careers it can lead into. This is our 4th one - you can find the collection of blogs here...

Studying Tourism Management

Why do some destinations attract millions of tourists while others struggle to compete? How do places deal with overtourism? What makes a visitor attraction successful? And how can the tourism industry continue to grow without damaging the environments and communities that tourists have come to see?

These are some of the questions you'll explore on a BA (Hons) Tourism Management degree.

Tourism Management combines elements of business, geography, marketing, economics and sustainability to examine one of the world's largest and most international industries.

Don't assume that studying Tourism Management means spending three years learning how to organise holidays. You'll explore how destinations are developed and marketed, how tourism businesses operate, why people travel, how tourism affects communities and environments, and how the industry responds to challenges ranging from climate change to economic crises and changing consumer behaviour.

If you're interested in travel and places but also enjoy the business side of how industries operate, Tourism Management could be worth considering.

What do you study on a Tourism Management degree?

Most undergraduate Tourism Management degrees last three years, although many universities offer an optional placement year that extends the degree to four years.

Course titles vary - you might find degrees called:

• Tourism Management
• International Tourism Management
• Tourism and Hospitality Management
• Tourism Management and Marketing
• Business Management and Tourism
• International Tourism and Events Management

Despite the different names, there is considerable overlap between them.

First year: Understanding the tourism industry

Your first year normally introduces you to how the tourism industry works.

Typical topics might include:

• The structure of the tourism industry
• Tourism destinations
• Tourist behaviour
• Marketing
• Business management
• Sustainability
• Tourism's economic impacts
• Tourism's social and cultural impacts
• Hospitality
• Finance
• Customer experience

At the University of Surrey, for example, first-year International Tourism Management students currently study Tourism Management, Tourism and Society, Services Marketing, Financial Accounting, the Visitor Economy and Business Environment, Airport Operations, and Responsible and Sustainable Management.

That highlights an important point about Tourism Management - it is partly a business degree. You'll need to understand customers, marketing, finance, management and business strategy as well as destinations and tourism itself. You might investigate questions such as why Dubai has developed into a major international tourism destination, how Airbnb has affected Barcelona, why theme parks invest millions in new attractions or how destinations use social media to influence tourists' choices.

Second year: Destinations, attractions and tourism businesses

During second year, you'll normally begin applying what you've learned to more specific areas of tourism.

You might study:

• Destination management
• Visitor attraction management
• Tourism marketing
• Sustainable tourism
• Digital marketing
• Human resource management
• Tourism finance
• Events and festivals
• Aviation and airports
• Revenue management
• Tourism policy
• International tourism

At Surrey, for example, second-year students currently study Destination Management and Development, Visitor Attraction Management, Digital Marketing and Business Intelligence and Data Analytics, alongside options including Airport Management, Gastronomy, Venue Management and a Tourism Fieldtrip.

You'll increasingly be expected to think like a tourism manager. Imagine a Mediterranean destination has become extremely successful with international tourists. Hotels and restaurants are booming and tourism creates thousands of jobs. But local residents are increasingly unhappy. House prices and rents have risen, beaches are overcrowded, water consumption is increasing and large numbers of cruise passengers are overwhelming the historic city centre. Should the destination try to attract even more visitors? Or should it introduce tourist taxes, restrict accommodation and encourage tourists to visit elsewhere?

Questions like these demonstrate why tourism isn't simply about getting more tourists to visit somewhere. Increasingly, it's about deciding what type of tourism a destination wants and how it can be managed sustainably.

Third year: strategy, specialisation and your dissertation

By your final year, you'll normally move towards more strategic issues and have greater freedom to specialise.

You might study:

• Tourism strategy
• Sustainable tourism
• Crisis management
• Tourism innovation
• Destination marketing
• Aviation
• Events and festivals
• Revenue management
• Leadership
• Entrepreneurship
• Tourism policy

Surrey's current final-year course, for example, includes Strategic Management and Tourism Strategy and Innovation, with options including Crisis Management, Strategic Revenue Management, Carnivals, Festivals and the Creative Industries, Innovations in Aviation and AI and Strategic Foresight.

A major element of final year at many universities is an independent dissertation or research project - you'll choose a tourism-related question, investigate existing research and then carry out your own analysis. Depending on the project, this could involve interviews, questionnaires, observations, case studies, social-media analysis or existing datasets.

Possible dissertation topics could include:

• Has Airbnb increased housing pressures in tourist cities?
• How effective are tourist taxes at managing overtourism?
• How has TikTok changed tourists' choice of destinations?
• Can long-haul tourism ever be sustainable?
• Why do tourists choose all-inclusive holidays?
• How important are online reviews when choosing a hotel?
• How can National Parks manage increasing visitor numbers?
• How has climate change affected ski tourism?
• Why has dark tourism become increasingly popular?
• How does film and television influence tourism destinations?
• How can destinations attract tourists outside the peak season?
• What makes a successful visitor attraction?
• How are budget airlines changing European tourism?
• How do major sporting events affect tourism?
• How can cruise tourism become more sustainable?
• Will artificial intelligence change how people plan holidays?
• How can destinations balance the needs of residents and tourists?

Some courses offer alternatives to a traditional dissertation - at Surrey, for example, students can currently choose between a dissertation and options including a business start-up project or consultancy project for the visitor economy.

Opportunity for fieldwork

Field trips can be an important part of a Tourism Management degree.

You might visit:

• Hotels
• Visitor attractions
• Heritage sites
• Airports
• Resorts
• Tourism organisations
• Events
• Destination management organisations

• Bournemouth University's BA Tourism Management, for example, includes field trips to tourism hotspots, alongside industry speakers, consultancy projects and live industry scenarios.
• Surrey currently offers an optional second-year Tourism Fieldtrip module.
• Sheffield Hallam's Business Management and Tourism degree includes a funded visit to World Travel Market in London, one of the major international events for the travel industry.

Some universities also offer overseas field trips, although destinations can change from year to year. Check whether trips are included in your tuition fees or involve additional costs before choosing a course primarily because of an advertised overseas visit.

What about placements?

This is particularly worth looking at when comparing Tourism Management degrees. Many courses allow you to spend a year working in the tourism industry between your second and final years.

• Bournemouth, for example, offers either a three-year course including a six-week placement or a four-year version incorporating a minimum 30-week work placement.
• Surrey similarly offers International Tourism Management as either a three-year degree or a four-year course with a Professional Training Year.

Placements might be with:

• Hotels and resorts
• Airlines and airports
• Tour operators
• Tourism boards
• Visitor attractions
• Events companies
• Travel businesses
• Marketing agencies.

A placement can be particularly valuable in tourism because employers often place considerable importance on commercial experience and customer-facing skills alongside your degree.

Which universities offer Tourism Management?

Tourism Management is available at universities across the UK, although course titles vary considerably.

Examples include:

• Bournemouth University – BA (Hons) Tourism Management: A three-year degree with a six-week placement or four-year version incorporating a longer industry placement. The course includes live industry projects, field trips and several tourism-industry accreditations.
• University of Surrey – BSc (Hons) International Tourism Management: A three-year course with an optional Professional Training Year. Students study tourism alongside areas including marketing, finance, sustainability, destination management and data analytics.
• University of Chester – BA (Hons) International Tourism Management: A three-year course with placement and foundation-year versions also available. The course examines global tourism and sustainable tourism while providing opportunities to develop industry experience.
• Sheffield Hallam University – BA (Hons) Business Management and Tourism: This combines tourism with broader business-management skills and includes real-world consultancy, placements and industry engagement. A placement-year option is available.

You'll find related courses at many other universities, so it's worth searching UCAS using several terms rather than only 'Tourism Management'. When comparing them, look closely at how much of the degree is specifically tourism-focused. Some courses are heavily based around tourism destinations and sustainability, while others contain much more business, hospitality, events or marketing.

What are the entry requirements?

Entry requirements vary considerably, and Tourism Management tends to be relatively flexible about the subjects you've studied before university.

• Bournemouth's Tourism Management degree asks for 104-120 UCAS points (approximately BCC-BBB) for 2026 entry, rising to 112-128 points (BBC-ABB) for 2027. It considers all A-level subjects.
• The University of Chester currently asks for 112 UCAS points on its Business and International Tourism Management degree.

Unlike some science or engineering degrees, there usually isn't one compulsory A-level subject.

Potentially useful subjects include:

• Geography
• Business
• Economics
• Travel and Tourism
• Sociology
• Psychology
• Politics
• Modern Foreign Languages
• Media Studies

Geography and Business are particularly relevant because Tourism Management sits quite neatly between the two. Geography helps you understand places, development, sustainability, globalisation and the impacts of tourism, while Business helps with marketing, finance, strategy and management.

Universities also commonly accept vocational qualifications such as BTECs and T Levels. Always check the exact requirements for the university and year you're applying for.

What careers can a Tourism Management degree lead to?

One attraction of Tourism Management is the sheer variety of organisations within the industry. Graduates might work for airlines, airports, hotels, tour operators, visitor attractions, tourism boards, local authorities, events companies or marketing organisations.

Tourism officer or destination manager

Tourism officers help promote and develop particular destinations. You might work for a local authority or destination organisation, developing tourism strategies, running marketing campaigns, carrying out visitor research and working with hotels, attractions and other local businesses.

Salaries of range from £18,000-£20,000 at trainee or assistant level, rising to £22,000-£28,000 for tourism officers and around £30,000-£40,000 for senior tourism officers and managers. The most senior positions can pay more.

Visitor attraction manager

Visitor attractions include theme parks, museums, heritage sites, zoos, galleries and major entertainment attractions. Managers need to think about the visitor experience while also managing staff, marketing, budgets, health and safety and commercial performance.

The National Careers Service gives a typical salary range of around £24,000 for starters to £50,000 for experienced visitor attraction general managers.

Hotel manager

Tourism graduates can also move into hotels and resorts, particularly if their course contains hospitality-management modules or they gain relevant placement experience. Hotel managers oversee areas including guest services, staffing, budgets, food and beverage operations, events and business performance.

The National Careers Service gives a typical salary range of approximately £30,000-£60,000 for hotel managers.

Travel agent or travel consultant

Travel consultants help customers choose and book flights, accommodation and holiday packages. Increasingly, the job involves selling specialist or complex travel experiences rather than simply making straightforward bookings that customers can complete online themselves.

The National Careers Service gives a typical salary range of around £22,000-£34,000 for travel agents.

Tourism marketing and digital marketing

Tourism organisations need to persuade people to choose their destination, hotel, airline or attraction rather than the alternatives. That creates opportunities in social media, digital advertising, brand management, market research, public relations, content creation, and destination marketing. Tourism Management courses with a strong marketing component can therefore lead into broader marketing careers outside tourism too.

The salary range for tourism marketing and digital marketing roles in the UK typically spans from £20,000 to over £110,000 per year, depending on your experience, job level, and specific industry specialisation.

Airline and airport management

Airlines and airports are another major part of the visitor economy. Potential careers include airport operation, airline commercial management, route development, customer experience, revenue management, and airport marketing. Surrey, for example, includes Airport Operations in first year and currently offers later options in Airport Management and Innovations in Aviation.

Salaries vary substantially depending on the role, employer and level of responsibility, with management roles generally paying considerably more than front-line passenger-service positions, but typically spans from £30,000 to over £90,000 per year, depending on your exact role, level of experience, and location.

Events and festivals

Tourism overlaps heavily with the events industry. You might work on festivals, conferences, exhibitions, sporting or cultural events, and destination events. Major events can be extremely important to tourism because they attract visitors who then spend money on accommodation, restaurants, transport and entertainment.

The salary range for events and festival management typically spans from £18,000 for entry-level roles to over £50,000 to £70,000+ for senior directors, with an overall industry average of around £30,000 to £35,000 per year.

Other possibilities

Tourism Management graduates can also move into:

• Tour operations
• Cruise tourism
• Resort management
• Sustainable tourism
• Destination marketing
• Tourism consultancy
• Business travel
• Heritage management
• Theme parks
• Events management
• Revenue management
• Hospitality
• Travel technology
• Tourism research
• Local government
• Entrepreneurship

And because the degree includes transferable business skills such as marketing, management and finance, you're not restricted to the tourism industry after graduation.

What skills will you develop?

Tourism Management combines academic study with a range of practical business skills.

These can include:

• Marketing
• Financial analysis
• Customer-service management
• Data analysis
• Market research
• Digital marketing
• Presentation skills
• Project management
• Teamwork
• Leadership
• Problem-solving
• Intercultural communication
• Report writing
• Business strategy

Surrey's current degree, for example, combines tourism with accounting, digital marketing, data analytics, strategic management and research methods.

Experience can be just as important as academic study, so working in a hotel, attraction, event, airport or other tourism business while you're at university can strengthen your CV considerably.

Is Tourism Management a good degree?

Tourism Management could be a particularly good choice if you're interested in Geography and Business but don't want to choose between them. You'll explore destinations, cultures, sustainability and the impacts of tourism, but you'll also study marketing, finance, management and business strategy.

It can also be an unusually international degree. You might spend one semester analysing why tourists choose particular destinations, another developing a marketing strategy for a visitor attraction, and another examining how climate change could affect the future of tourism.

And there are some major challenges to investigate. Popular destinations are struggling with overtourism. Climate change threatens ski resorts, coastal destinations and long-haul travel. Artificial intelligence is changing how holidays are researched and booked. Social media can turn previously little-known places into global attractions almost overnight. At the same time, destinations around the world depend on tourism for jobs, investment and income.

That makes the central question of Tourism Management increasingly interesting - how do you create successful tourism businesses and destinations while making sure tourism continues to work for visitors, businesses, local communities and the environment?