Master of Science (MSc) in Hospitality and

Tourism Management

Programme Description
The Master of Science (MSc) in Hospitality and Tourism Management aims at equipping
the managers and future managers a combination of most advanced knowledge and
management know-how in the international hospitality and tourism context. The program
features a highlight on research and analytical competency development, an innovation
orientation, as well as an exposure to real life management scenarios, all of which allow
graduates to operate and manage in a highly dynamic hospitality and tourism
environment. The program includes the following learning modules:
• Tourism
• Hospitality
• Management
• Dissertation

Programme Highlights
 Highly customisable based on individual students’ needs, with PgD Programmes
which are fully convertible to the MSc level.
 Possibility of taking up to 9 credit hours of taught courses from selected postgraduate
programmes offered by higher education institutions recognised by IFTM.
Modules and Courses

Course Category Credit

(Total: 36 credits)
Tourism
 Destination and Attractions Management
 Trends and Issues in Tourism and Leisure 9
 Sustainable Tourism Planning and Development

Hospitality
 Hospitality Operations Management
 Leadership and Organisational Behaviour in Hospitality 9
 Innovative Hospitality Technologies

Management (3 credits/ course, choose any four courses

below)
 Research Methods (compulsory course)
 Human Resources Management 12
 Marketing Management
 Finance and Accounting
 Strategic Management
Dissertation 6

Remarks:
 The Management Module is common to all paths. The dissertation is a capstone
requirement for MSc students only.
 Bridging course(s) may be required depending on the educational and professional
background of postgraduate students.
 Each MSc candidate will be required to complete a research dissertation (15,000 - 40,000
words).
 PgD graduates can complete the additional required credits and top up to the corresponding
MSc degree no later than 7 years upon completion of the PgD. Applicants should note that
there may be changes to the curriculum, top-up requirements and completion duration in
the interim, subject to the approval of IFTM.
Course Description

Module Course Title Course Description

This course explores major aspects of managing visitor
attractions and destinations such as amusement parks, theme
parks, museums, integrated resorts, and heritage sites. It
provides a comprehensive and critical theoretical and empirical
Destination review relevant to destination and attraction management.
and Special focus will be on the roles of Destination Management
Attractions Organisations (DMO) in tourism development, promotion and
Management management and the essence of collaborating with various
stakeholders for successful destination management. The
various approaches in managing attractions and destinations
are also critically analysed and discussed.

This course familiarises students more extensively with the

current trends and issues that impact the tourism and leisure
industry. Trends and issues including accessibility in tourism
Trends and and leisure, changes in technology, security issues in global
Issues in
Tourism tourism, climate changes and the rise of a range of special
Tourism and
Leisure interest tourism products are examined. Their influence on
delivery of tourism and leisure products and services are
critically analysed. Future potential changes to lifestyle and
leisure consumption are also considered.

This course provides a systematic overview of the different

facets of tourism, the concept of sustainability and sustainable
approaches to the planning, development and management of
tourism. It provides a detailed and critical examination of the
theoretical and empirical issues underpinning the principles of
Sustainable
sustainable development that are applied in tourism. The
Tourism
relationship between sustainable development and
Planning and
sustainable tourism, the techniques and tools to manage the
Development
impacts of tourism, the processes involved in tourism policy-
making and planning and the extent to which the processes
facilitate community participation and inclusiveness are
discussed.
Module Course Title Course Description
Hospitality Operations Management is the mix of service and
product operations management, and is one of the core
disciplines in the hospitality management field. To equip
students with the competence to manage daily operations
Hospitality
strategically, this course explains particular challenges that
Operations
staff at managerial positions will face from various dimensions
Management
of hospitality business. Topics include, but are not limited to,
revenue management, service delivery flow efficiency,
resource productivity, and inventory management.

This course offers students a comprehensive, integrative, and

practical focus on leadership and organisational behavior
(OB). It is based upon a framework that analyses leadership
and organisational behavior at different levels: individual,
Leadership
team, and organisation. The course covers contemporary
and
Hospitality leadership and OB theories/concepts. It also provides students
Organisational
the opportunity to apply these theories and concepts through
Behaviour in
case analysis and to enhance personal skill development
Hospitality
through self-assessment exercises. Topics included in this
course are ethics, networking, coaching, organisational
culture, diversity, strategic leadership, and crisis leadership.

To meet the needs of tech-savvy customers in the digital era,

this course aims to cover current technological trends that can
help streamline operations in the hospitality industry, and
Innovative explores their impacts on the hospitality business and its e-
Hospitality commerce environment. Topics in this course include, but are
Technologies not limited to, social media, apps for mobile devices, service
automation, self-service technology, and tech applications in
on-line travel agencies (OTA) and the hospitality industry.
 Module Course Title Course Description
This course aims to develop students’ intermediate levels of
understanding and skills enabling them to apply different
methods of research to address broad real-life management
problems and also in the specific context of hospitality and
tourism. At the end of the course, students will be expected to
Research have obtained the necessary knowledge and confidence in
Methods applying the most established research methodologies,
following the basic framework of identifying research problems,
formulating appropriate research design, conducting scientific
data collection and analysis, as well as interpreting, presenting,
and communicating research findings.

This subject aims at helping managers and/or future managers

recognise the importance of human resources to the successful
operation of hospitality and tourism companies by providing a
comprehensive review of essential human resource concepts
Human and theories, so as to help develop and implement effective
Resources human resource policies and practices to achieve competitive
Management advantage. Both macro- and micro-perspectives are included
in this subject to facilitate analysis of contemporary HRM
issues, and guide students to make managerial decisions and
develop solutions accordingly.

This course aims to develop students’ conceptual foundation

for undertaking critical analysis and decision-making about
various issues, problems, and challenges in marketing
management, particularly in the context of the hospitality,
tourism, and events industries. The course will generally adopt
Management
a case learning approach whereby students are expected to
Marketing develop and master skills such as identifying, framing, and
Management analysing marketing problems, identifying options and
alternatives for marketing action plans, designing and
implementing appropriate marketing programmes, and
communicating, as well as discussing with and persuading
others of appropriate marketing decisions using logical
marketing management framework and analyses.

This subject helps students understand the main principles of

finance and accounting and demonstrate the importance of
these to management decision making in hospitality and
tourism companies. The subject will enable the students to
Finance and apply accounting principles and approaches to decision making
Accounting in contemporary hospitality and tourism business
organisations. The students will also be able to understand,
analyse, and interpret financial information and integrate the
result into decision making in the management level.

This subject provides an opportunity for managers (or future

managers) of hospitality and tourism companies to understand,
apply, develop, and critically evaluate business strategies. It
also offers an understanding and critical evaluation of the
Strategic
factors that contribute to successful strategic management.
Management
Common strategies in the hospitality and tourism industry are
embedded in the course content. Real hospitality companies
will be invited to showcase real life strategies and co- develop
solutions.
 Module Course Title Course Description
The purpose of this subject is to help students demonstrate
their abilities to conduct an independent research / practical
project using different techniques in the hospitality and tourism
context. For the dissertation, students will develop and apply
skills to conduct a critical review of the literature on selected
Dissertation Dissertation topics, and learn how to analyses research data in a
systematic way and to a professional standard. For projects,
students will be able to provide practical solutions or
applications to a hospitality or tourism business based on their
knowledge and skills in this area.