30384 - TOURISM, LOCAL IDENTITY AND DESTINATION MANAGEMENT

The mission of the workshop is to allow students to face the key challenges and opportunities of tourism as a very dynamic sector through a mix of theory, guest speakers, company visits, and case studies. The course provides an overview of the tourism and travel sector and introduces the competences and tools necessary to manage an increasingly complex and globalized industry. It addresses meaningful transformations occurring in the current business models of both companies (e.g. hospitality, events, digital platforms, intermediaries,..) and destinations. A specific focus is also dedicated on how to ground strategies in the authentic local identities of visitors’ destinations and on innovation and sustainability in tourism.

Lectures covers three areas of study:

Tourism basics

• The tourism market and tourism as a system.
• Tourism demand segments.
• Tourism industries and players.

Demand and supply trends and challenges

• Global trends and innovation in tourism.

• Digitial disruption in tourism and travel.

• From standardization to personalization of tourism experiences.

• Global current issues: climate change, overtourism, tourismification.

Destination development and management

• The key role of destinations in tourism.
• Attractiveness and competitiveness of places.
• Sustainable, responsible, and transformative tourism.

• Gain an understanding of the most relevant megatrends and global challenges in tourism.
• Identify innovation trends in the tourism industry.
• Tackle key issues in management and marketing processes of tourism destinations.
• Appreciate and understand sustainability and green management practices in tourism.

• Identify the proper theoretical frameworks and tools necessary to manage an increasingly complex and globalized industry, such as the tourism one.
• Apply them to real cases and confront international best practices.
• Ground compettiive and sustainable strategies in the unique local identities of tourism places.
• Develop hands-on abilities on a real tourism project for a company or a destination.

• Face-to-face lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Company visits
• Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
• Individual assignments
• Group assignments

• The corse mixes lectures and interventions of guest speakers, both from the private and the public sector, who will deliver a direct experience on how they face innovation and new trends in tourism. With the same porpouse, company visits are organized through the course.
• Cases will be discussed to identify theoretical concepts and tools from real-life situations.
• A field project will involve groups of students in acting as consultants by crafting and presenting an innovation strategy from idea generation to implementation for a leading tourism company/destination.
• On the other hand, the individual assignment is meant to gain a critical understanding of current tourism issues.

• Group field project (60% of the total grade): it is a field project on a specific task given by a leading tourism company/destination that allows students to think creatively and develop a proposal for a unique solution that can help to address important strategic issues. Intermediate in class reviews of the project (tutorships) are scheduled. The assessment of the field project is based both on the effectiveness of the presentation and the quality of the final report.
• Individual essay (40% of the total grade): the individual essay is meant to introduce students to the relevant tourism literature (both academic and trade) and allow them to explore proper conceptual and empirical issues associated with current tourism issues.

Both the evaluations must be sufficient (grade >=18).

Detailed guidelines for both the field projet and the individual assignment are provided in class.

Written exam (100% of the total grade):

• Type: open questions/short essay answers.
• Questions on the materials for non attending students.

The reading list is provided in the syllabus at the beginning of the course. It includes readings from academic journals, reports, and slides/other class materials.

In accordance with intellectual property rights rules, different materials are available in different ways

• On the Bocconi Bboard platform of the course
• On the ad hoc web course reserve, provided by the Library

• J. FLETCHER, A. FAYAL, D. GILBERT, S. WANHILL, Tourism: Principles and Practice, Pearson, 2017, 6 ed.