The degree course in Tourism, territories and Businesses provides competences in the economic, business, statistic, legal. geographical, historical- artistic, linguistic, and demo-ethno-anthropological sectors, with respect to the tourism phenomenon.
Students of this course are prepared for an integrated interpretation of the phenomenon, under an interdisciplinary perspective. Therefore they are capable to prepare an integrated supply system, thanks to their interpersonal skills and problem solving abilities, aiming at increasing cohesion among stakeholders and at pursuing coherent development objectives. With respect to demand, the area of study therefore includes: the motivations to travel, the process driving to the choice of a service, the consumer behaviours, the de-standardisation of tourism, the demand for tourism workers (in professional and cultural terms), the tourist’ cultural models, the social evolution of lifestyles. With respect to the supply: the exploitation of environmental, natural, historical and cultural resources, the organization and management of hotel areas and of local attraction, the local cultural production, the quality of service, the use of new marketing technologies and the different promotion of tourist products and services.
Students will be able to effectively communicate in English language, as well as in another European Union language, chosen among French and Spanish.
Finally, they know how to use effectively the computer tools for the use and management of contents and statistical data related to the tourism sector.
These skills are acquired through lectures, exercises, language laboratories, as well as through the participation in conferences and seminars, organized by the Degree Course. During the course, students must also pass written and oral tests, also mid-term ones, aiming at improving their learning. Furthermore, particular attention is paid by the Degree Course to the organization and management of the internship, considering it functional to the maturation of an experience not only providing students a knowledge of the dynamics of the world of work, but above all activating processes of 'learning by doing '.
The teaching method pursued in the Degree Course integrates different approaches:
a) descriptive – qualitative and quantitative analysis of the tourism phenomenon;
b) inductive- analysis of the cause/effect relationships underlying the tourism phenomenon;
c) deductive - analysis of the consequences produced by the occurrence of phenomena;
d) comparative – comparison among the adoptable solutions and operational decisions.
The teaching material for the individual courses will combine national and international manuals, popular and scientific articles useful to enable students to develop a sound and articulated theoretical-conceptual preparation for the formulation of the strategy of the tourism company, as well as to support the policy-maker in the territorial choices for the promotion of tourism. A practical focus is provided through the application of the acquired theoretical knowledge to the analysis of real cases, aimed at highlighting the main problems and challenges arising from changes in demand and from the acceleration of competitive dynamics in the tourism sector. The course provides a number of credits adequately distributed among basic activities (Law, English and other European Languages, Business Economics, Business Economics and Management, Geography) aiming at providing students with solid scientific groundings on which to set up their specific study, which is declined in the various class-specific educational activities (Basic and Applied Statistics, Applied Economics, Economic Policy, Finance, Art History, Museology) to allow particular harmonization among the various disciplines, qualifying the specificity of the course educational offer, divided in three profiles.
The first profile provides students with articulated knowledge on the creation and appropriation of value of companies operating in the tourism sector. In general, attention will be focused on how a company can obtain an advantage over its rivals and maintain it over time.
The second profile provides knowledge and tools related to the formulation of territorial policies at different levels - local, regional, national and European - and to the analysis and management of tourist destinations.
The third profile combines basic economic and managerial knowledge for the tourist development of the territories with the integrated and sustainable management of the cultural and natural resources of a territory.