Course 2024-2025 a.y.

The course is structured around the following modules to provide a comprehensive, interconnected perspective.

Module 1: Understanding Tourism Trends and Scenarios

• Overview of the Tourism Market: Explore the main players, industry structure, key drivers, and emerging trends shaping the sector.
• A Rapidly Changing Industry: Analyze the managerial challenges, frontier issues, and factors driving tourism competitiveness.
• Multifaceted Demand Segments: Delve into diverse tourism niches such as cultural, creative, luxury, food, wellness, and sports tourism.

Module 2: Business Models and Value Chains in Tourism

• Mapping Tourism Value Chains: Examine the key players and interactions within the value chains of the tourism sector.

• Private and Public Sector Roles: Understand the networking processes, tools, and success factors for collaboration in tourism.

• New Business Models: Focus on innovative business practices and managerial issues across the tourism industry, including hospitality and complementary services, Travel intermediaries, Transportation, events, and attractions.

• Industry Insights: Engage with guest speakers from various tourism sectors and visit urban resorts (e.g., Château Monfort, Portrait/Ferragamo) to gain firsthand insights into luxury hospitality, accommodation, spa-wellness, food, and shopping experiences

Module 3: Destination Management and Sustainability

• Sustainable Tourism and Destination Impacts: Understand the definitions, frameworks, and methods for assessing tourism’s impact on destinations.
• Green and Social Initiatives: Explore ethical decision-making and sustainable practices across different tourism sectors.
• Destination Strategy and Management: Learn about destination management organizations (DMMOs) and their role in strategy and promotion.
• Case Studies and Industry Perspectives: Analyze real-world examples of destinations and DMMOs transitioning towards sustainable development.

• Analyze and predict tourism market trends and interpret different scenarios at national and international level.
• Deepen their understanding of tourism value chains, demand segments, and interconnections across travel and tourism industries.
• Acquire conceptual and practical tools proper of the tourism industry.
• Understand the essential tenets of sustainable tourism, destination management and cooperation processes.
• Recognize the strategic role of Destination Marketing and Management Organizations (DMMOs) in fostering sustainable and competitive destinations.

• Critically assess and compare different tourism business models and destination strategies.
• Develop actionable strategies for sustainable tourism initiatives at destination and industry levels.
• Craft innovative proposals for tourism companies and destinations, balancing competitiveness with sustainability.
• Interact professionally with industry stakeholders, demonstrating advanced knowledge and problem-solving skills.
• Apply concepts and tools in a real-world setting through group projects and field assignments.

• Lectures
• Guest speaker's talks (in class or in distance)
• Company visits
• Individual works / Assignments
• Collaborative Works / Assignments

The course is based on a mix of lectures, speeches from guest speakers, company visits and a group assignment (group project). The mix enables students to apply concepts to real-life situations and deals. Students are expected to actively participate to class.

Guest Speaker's talks provide the students with the opportunity to get a first hands-on approach on specific tourism managerial issues and challenges in the tourism industry.

Company visit/workshops are a chance to see the backstage of some key players and the places where management decisions happen within the tourism industry.

Case studies and class discussions are fundamental to achieve a better knowledge of the topics covered within the course and ensure a proper understanding of different methodologies. They support the students in achieving better interaction in a multi-cultural context and develop critical thinking over the topics.

A field project is developed over the course and it aims at practicing and verifying students’ ability to deal with future scenarios and build a consistent and feasible proposal for a tourism company. 

Grades for attending students are computed as follows:

·       Individual essay exam (50%) The essay assesses the ability of students to analyze and critically discuss issues treated over the course through a specific case.

·       Group assignment (50%) The group project aims to deal with future scenarios and build a consistent and feasible proposal for a tourism company/destination.

Both evaluations must be sufficient (grade ≥ 18). 

Written exam (100%). The written exam for not attending students consists of a short answer-essay exam. Students are required to analyze or compare-contrast or express a documented opinion on some of the issues treated in the books for non attending students. No oral integration.

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

The reading list is provided in the syllabus at the beginning of the course. It includes readings from academic journals, reports, and book chapters.

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