Creation of the European Research Area (ERA) and of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA), also known as the Bologna Process, has brought official graduate education in Europe to the forefront.

The University of Girona (UdG) and the Rovira and Virgili University (URV) are working together to promote the Masters in Tourism Management, the only official programme in this field in Catalonia.

The URV and the UdG are the current leaders in tourism teaching and research in Catalonia. They have created their own Science and Technology Parks and have promoted the Catalan Tourism Research Institute, headquartered in Vila-seca and in Girona.

Educational objectives

The Responding to the constantly changing needs of tourists requires high levels of professionalism and competency. The persons responsible for managing tourist organisations as well as those who work in them as high- and mid-level managers must have advanced technical, interpersonal and intellectual skills.

The Masters in Tourism Management aims to provide students with advanced knowledge of tourism so that they can work in technical and management positions in companies and in public administration bodies, as qualified personnel in a professional advisory capacity, in business innovation and in academic studies in the field of tourism.

The highly complex nature of tourism requires professionals with a wide, global understanding of the many disciplines related to tourism. Advanced knowledge of strategic management, marketing, town and country planning, economics and finance, information technologies, law, etc. are paramount to effective and competent decision making in any job related to tourism.

The Masters not only focuses on these common aspects but also offers students a choice of specialised subjects, supervised practical training and supervised final projects to ensure that real management skills are developed.

Through academic classes, encounters with expert professionals and activities based on the studies, the Masters programme has been designed to guarantee fulfilment of the following objectives:

• To prepare professionals for decision making at high levels of responsibility in tourism companies, activities and institutions.
• To enable professionals to respond to the demands of sustainability, diversity and quality in tourism markets.
• To provide training in the application of methods, instruments and practices to develop and effectively manage tourism activities.
• To help incorporate technological solutions into the management of establishments, activities and tourist destinations.
• To prepare tourist consultancy specialists capable of rigorously implementing tourism management and development strategies which are effective for the private sector and are of general interest for the community.
• To develop specialisation profiles that take into account both the need for innovation in company management and the development of new management systems in collective institutions.
• To train researchers to do advanced research into tourism at the university and in other institutions which carry out research into tourism.

Programme and Curriculum Structure

The Masters programme consists of:

• 1 Module of Advanced Academic Training (48 ECTS credits)
• 1 Instrumental Module (12 ECTS credits)
• 1 Module of Specialised Training (30 ECTS credits)
• A Masters Thesis (30 ECTS credits) or Fieldwork (12 ECTS credits) and a Research Project (18 ECTS credits), depending on whether the track chosen has a research or a professional profile.

The first two modules are the same for all students and have been designed to offer, at an advanced level, the basic knowledge that every tourism professional should have. The specialised training module is designed to allow the students to focus on specific areas of professional interest in the field of tourism. Finally, the objective of the Masters thesis is to introduce the student to the world of scientific research, while the fieldwork together with the research project is aimed at applying the knowledge and skills acquired during the year in an integrated way.

The curriculum structure of each of these modules is the following:

• Advanced Academic Training Module (48 ECTS credits): Advanced Operations and Quality Management in Tourism Organisations, Managerial Skills in Tourism Organisations, Financial Management of Tourism Companies, Tourism Clusters and Cooperation, Segmentation Strategies and Price Management of Tourism Services, Communication Strategies and Tourism Product Distribution, Creativity and Innovation Management in Tourism Organisations, Project Management for the Development of Tourism Products, Sustainable Development in Tourism, Town and Country Planning Instruments, Local Town and Country Planning, Local Tourism Destination Management, Economic Analysis of the Tourism Sector, Economics and Public Tourism Management, Qualitative Methods I and II, Territorial Analysis and Information Techniques I and II
• Instrumental Training Module (12 ECTS credits): Quantitative Methods I and II
• Specialised Training Module (30 ECTS credits): This module is organised in five separate specialised tracks in each of which students complete 24 ECTS credits of academic training and 6 ECTS credits of complementary activities to help them consolidate the acquired knowledge. The tracks are:
  • Track 1: Development and Management of Tourism Products
  • Track 2: Management of Cultural Tourism
  • Track 3: Tourism Marketing
  • Track 4: Coastal Sustainability and Tourism
  • Track 5: Leisure Facilities and Activities Management

• Research work (30 ECTS credits): The Masters thesis is a work of research, related with one of the tracks studied in the programme and through which students demonstrate the specific-subject knowledge acquired and during the work on the research project, thereby guaranteeing the acquisition of real management skills. The students who choose it focus their masters on this introduction to research and are training to be expert professionals in research and development in tourism.
• Fieldwork and Research project (12 and 18 ECTS credits): The fieldwork and the subsequent research work are aimed at those students who want to focus on a professional specialisation, that is, high-level professional training for the management and planning of tourism companies, activities and institutions.

Teaching Staff Profile

The teaching staff of the Masters is made up of professors from the University of Girona and the Rovira and Virgili University who are expert teachers and recognised researchers in areas related with tourism such as: territorial tourism development, cooperation and innovation in tourism organisations, the economic analysis of tourism, the management of tourism companies, the image and identity of tourism destinations, the legal aspects of tourism, tourism marketing, new technologies and information systems as applied to tourism, tourism organisation strategies and competitiveness, and cultural tourism.
Notwithstanding, it is anticipated that recognised tourism professionals in the various subjects making up the Masters curriculum will occasionally participate in the training.lecturers and researchers that can guide research work have taught on different masters and PhD programmes at the UdG and other universities within Europe.

Entrance profiles, previous training requirements and admission criteria

The academic records of students who have three-year diplomas, four- or five-year undergraduate degrees and/or graduate degrees in tourism or in other profiles in the areas of the Human, Economic, Juridical or Social Sciences are given priority consideration.

Notwithstanding, students with foreign university degrees can be admitted to the masters programme if they have obtained prior recognition of any of the degrees required for access to it or, if not, with prior verification that those studies certify a level of academic training equivalent to the official Spanish degrees and authorise access to graduate studies in the country where the degrees were awarded.

The academic committee will, on a case by case basis, specify any additional academic training necessary for acceptance of the applications that do not meet the established admission profile. Likewise, validations can be accepted when necessary.

Doctoral Programme in Tourism

The Doctorate in Tourism, Law and Business (University of Girona) and the Doctorate in Tourism and Leisure (Rovira and Virgili University) are directly related to the Masters in Tourism Management.

Students who have chosen the research track of the programme will be able to enter the PhD Programme in Tourism, Law and Business (University of Girona) or the Doctoral Programme in Tourism and Leisure (Rovira and Virgili University). The applications will be evaluated by the admissions committee of each programme, taking into consideration the reports of professors or researchers proposed by the directors of the PhD thesis.

Lenght: 2 years

Programme locations:

First year (advanced training and instrumental modules):
UdG: Faculty of Tourism and Communication, Girona.
UdG: Mediterrani School of Tourism, Barcelona.
URV: School of Tourism and Leisure, Vila-seca.

Second year (specialisation module, fieldwork and research project):
UdG: Faculty of Arts, Girona. Specialisation tracks 1, 2 and 4.
UdG: Mediterrani School of Tourism, Barcelona. Specialisation track 3.
URV: School of Tourism and Leisure, Vila-seca. Specialisation track 5.

Grants: 

Financial assistance for the masters programme is available through grants from the Government of Catalonia, the Ministry of Education and Science, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade (Tourism Grants from Spain), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (AECI), the European Union (students may take advantage of the Socrates Student Mobility Programme), and other sources.

Academic Coordinators of the Masters and of the Doctoral Programmes:

UdG Masters: Dr. Jordi Comas / Doctoral UdG: Dr. Jaume Guia
URV Masters and Doctoral: Dr. Salvador Anton

Contact persons

UdG: Mireia Agustí (mireia.agusti@pas.udg.edu). Tel.: 00 (34) 972 419 706
URV: Pilar Salvany (pilar.salvany@urv.cat). Tel.: 00 (34) 977 395 624

Web pages with information about the masters:   http://gigs.udg.edu/ - http://www.euto.urv.net

Pre-registration and Registration Process

Pre-registration for the Official Masters will take place on-line beginning in May. Further information can be found on the following web pages:

- UdG Graduate School: http://gigs.udg.edu
- Rovira and Virgili University: http://www.urv.cat (in the section Futurs alumnes/Màsters i postgraus or through the Màsters Oficials curs 2006-2007 shortcut on the main page).

Mobility options with financial aid (UdG):

There is a proposal to promote student mobility and cooperation among European institutions through economic assistance.

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