GEOG*3490 - Tourism and Sustainability

Course Description

An integrative perspective on tourism, addressing diverse interactions between people and tourist resources. Emphasis is on experiences derived from the use of resources, the environmental, economic and cultural impacts of tourism, and approaches to managing these impacts.

Note: This course can be taken individually or as a part of a certificate program.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of the course, you should be able to:

• Explain and apply geographical theories and concepts (e.g. globalization, development theories, sustainability, geographical imagination, and power) in relation to international tourism;
• Compare and assess the opportunities and constraints different actors in the tourism industry face in acting more sustainably (e.g. government, tourists, private sector, local communities);
• Describe the influence of sustainable development on tourism, compare different perspectives on sustainable tourism, and examine the challenges associated with realizing sustainable tourism in practice;
• Evaluate the sustainability of contemporary examples of tourism;
• Effectively communicate your ideas about tourism in both informal and formal written formats;
• Appraise your own values and behaviours in relation to tourism and assess your position as a citizen in an inequitable global system

Course Topics

• Tourism as a Global Industry: From Mass Tourism to New Tourism
• Tourism, Globalization, and International Development
• Tourism and Power
• Supranational Institutions
• Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs)
• Tourists
• Destination Communities (hosts)
• Governments
• The Tourism Industry
• Sustainable Tourism and Climate Change
• New Tourism vs. Mass Tourism

Assessment

Applies Towards the Following Certificates

• Certificate in Environmental Citizenship : Electives