International Hospitality and Tourism Management Masters - MSc

The programme is modular and comprises of core/compulsory modules, which are considered to be essential for each Award title. In line with Cardiff Metropolitan University’s assessment and awards regulations:

• The Postgraduate Certificate can be awarded following the successful completion of 60-credits of taught modules
  
• The Postgraduate Diploma can be awarded following the successful completion of 120-credits of taught modules
• The MSc can be awarded following the successful completion of 120-credits of taught modules plus 60-credits from the Dissertation, Enterprise Project, Consultancy Project or Internship Project*.

Postgraduate Diploma/MSc students can select one optional module to customise their Award. In addition, on successful completion of 120 credits, MSc students can select a different format for their Independent Research Project (Dissertation, Enterprise Project, Consultancy Project or Internship Project*) to customise their Award to meet their specific needs and career ambitions.

Compulsory modules

• Managing People & markets across cultures (20 credits)
• Industry Project Management (20 credits)
• Exploring Hospitality & Tourism Landscapes (20 credits)
• Research Methods  (20 credits)
• People, Places and Practice: Contextualising the THE Industries (20 credits)
  

Optional modules

• Internship (20 credits) or
• Crisis & Risk Management (20 credits) or
  
• Leadership & Strategy (20 credits)*
  

Final project (60 credits)

Dissertation OR Enterprise Project OR Consultancy Project OR Internship Project* (60 credits).

*The Internship Project is core to the Internship sandwich pathway and requires students to undertake a 48 week placement at the end of their two semesters of taught modules.

The availability of offered modules is subject to a minimum class size. Please see our Terms & Conditions​ for further information.

Learning Strategies

Postgraduate students are expected to take increased responsibility and ownership for their own learning.  The course structure and teaching strategies are designed to encourage greater student evaluation of content than at undergraduate level. Lectures are used to deliver information to students, whilst tutorials, seminars, workshops and case studies are used to develop higher cognitive capabilities.

Postgraduate students are required to undertake greater independent reading around their subjects and to critically evaluate the material throughout the programme. Practical exercises given to the students are more investigative in nature, require greater skills of analysis and synthesis and require the results to be put into a broader context than is expected of students at undergraduate level.

All non-lecture sessions require students to participate and contribute both prior to and during the sessions. Where groupwork is appropriate, students become aware of self-management and also group dynamics and the team approach to problem solving. Underlying these activities is the desire to utilise the experience, opinions and knowledge of the student body and to provide a creative context for the collaborative exploration and development of ideas.

Within the overall programme aims, students are encouraged to evaluate their own learning needs.  Students are encouraged to seek many additional sources of information and then critically evaluate the knowledge obtained. The benefits of a self-analytical approach to learning and the process of learning, as well as the product, are emphasised.

Across the programme, the aim is to develop active and independent learners who can:

• Set their own goals by identifying their own learning needs and relevant issues for study;
• Reflect critically on theory in the light of their professional experience;
• Manage and evaluate their studies.

Study Skills

Dedicated study skills support is available from Cardiff School of Management’s Personal Tutoring team and, for international (non-EU) students, from the International Office.

The extant CSM Personal Development Planning (PDP) Strategy is designed to build upon current good practices that allow students to monitor, build and reflect upon their personal development. Elements of PDP will be embedded in modules such as Research Methods, Industry Project Management, Tourism, Hospitality and Events Indsutries in Context and Internship. This approach should ensure that students develop their personal reflection and to ensure that they have the appropriate knowledge and understanding, cognitive skills, practical and professional skills and transferable skills to operate within a tourism or hospitality management position.

Teaching Strategies

The programme has been designed to facilitate student learning that takes place against a background of professional expertise, exposure and commitment and internationalism. Whilst Wales is often used as a case study, the teaching team place great emphasis on contrasting Welsh industry practices with alternative international examples. The pedagogic approach combines lectures, seminars, workshops, tutorials, case studies, guest speakers, field visits and groupwork, as well as independent study. The overall philosophy of the programme is based on student-centred learning which will provide students with the optimal opportunity to utilise and extend their experience within a participative learning environment.

Lectures
Lectures contribute to the teaching strategies for the programme. They are an effective way of delivering core material and establishing a framework for a module against which other material can be set. Students are issued with a Module Handbook which outlines the content of each module and a list of the topics to be covered as well as sources of additional material (required and recommended reading). Members of staff aim to present lecture material in as effective and stimulating a manner as possible. Thus, use is made of presentation software, e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint, and all lecture rooms on the Llandaff campus have appropriate data projection equipment. Lecturers make their notes and other resources available on Blackboard which students can download as required.

Seminars
Seminars involve student(s) presenting previously-prepared work to peers and a lecturer. This strategy is used to extend specific theoretical or practical concepts as well as incorporating problem-solving approaches into the programme. Seminars are used to provide students with valuable experience in presentational skills as well as providing staff with a method of assessing student-centred learning.

Workshops
Practical workshops are used to develop skills in a supportive environment where students can get feedback from a member of academic staff. Practical workshops represent a valuable bridge between theory and practice.

Tutorials
These are meetings of a student or group of students with a lecturer or lecturers to: expand on material covered in lectures through an enquiry-driven problem solving approach appropriate to the needs of postgraduate students; include additional work to overcome deficiencies in a student's background knowledge.

Case Studies
Case studies are a learning and teaching strategy which can be employed within a variety of teaching methods. Students may be presented with a real or simulated complex problem which they will have to analyse in detail and suggest/present their own solutions.

Guest Speakers
Guest lecturers from the public, private and voluntary sectors also participate in the learning and teaching process.  They enhance award delivery by introducing a sense of the outside world into the learning and teaching process.  Students are also encouraged to join appropriate professional associations (e.g. Tourism Society, Institute of Hospitality) and to participate in the School research ethos through internal research seminars.

Field Visits
Visits to a range of tourism, hospitality and events organisations and other sites will be arranged to provide students with an opportunity to see some of the theory they have studied being implemented in the work-place in a variety of settings.

Groupwork
For some modules, a specific and substantial element of the learning process takes place through students working and learning as part of a team.  Whilst each team will have an allocated tutor, the team members are responsible for managing team performance. Groupwork provides support for individual students, allows confidence building, negotiating skills and generally enhances the learning process. The ability to work as part of a team is vital in many of the career paths within tourism, hospitality and events management. Groupwork may be required for: presentations, reports, collating information or critically evaluating research.

Student Support

The primary basis of student support is to be provided by the Programme Director, Year Tutors and the associated administrative resources. In addition, support will be provided by:

• CSM Personal Tutors
• Cardiff Met’s International Office, who offer English Language and welfare support for International students
• An induction programme
• Student handbook and module handbooks
• Blackboard Virtual Learning Environment
• Library and study skills packages
• Library and learning resources of Cardiff Metropolitan University and Cardiff University (by arrangement)
• Specialist computing facilities including interactive and multi-media labs
• A 24-hour open access IT facility on the Cyncoed and Llandaff campuses
• Unlimited worldwide web access

All procedures and requirements regarding assessment are contained within CSM’s School Assessment Procedures, which reflects Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Academic Handbook.

The role of assessment is threefold; to monitor student performance as they proceed through the programme, to provide feedback to students and to measure the level of attainment at the end of the programme. To achieve these objectives the assessment adopted by the Programme Team involves a range of coursework which are designed to give students the opportunity to submit evidence of reflective thought, reading, analysis and problem-solving abilities, in addition to relating their academic studies to their actual work experience.

Assessments will relate directly to learning outcomes and one assessment will usually cover a range of learning outcomes.  Candidates will be assessed in taught modules and, for the MSc students, by means of an Independent Research Project.

In designing and deciding upon an assessment format for a module the following have been considered:

• The module learning outcomes and their level, with particular emphasis on the student’s ability to analyse, synthesise, evaluate and communicate information derived from:
• module content;
• learned knowledge from other areas/qualifications;
• experience;
• the implementation of systematic information-seeking strategies.
• Opportunities for students to apply their skills to specific industry/business problems.
• Problem-solving skills developed systematically to resolve these problems.
• Assessment performance criteria, as communicated to the student in the assessment briefs.
• The validity and reliability of the assessment methods, which are monitored by module leaders and programme teams via performance indicators; including Module Evaluation forms and external examiner comments.
• Time constraints and the need to ensure consistency.
• The use of a range of strategies through which a student can demonstrate what he/she understands or can do.
• The need for assessment to allow for review and reflection by the student.

To this end there is a strong emphasis on coursework rather than assessment by final examination.

Assessments take the form of essays, group and individual presentations, group and individual reports, a research proposal, reflective portfolios and an Independent Research Project

All students undertake a live consultancy project through the Industry Project Management module, which provides an opportunity to engage with employers in the industry.

Student have the option to undertake the Internship module. The duration of this (unpaid) internship is either for a minimum of 20 days, which will normally be undertaken during term-time one day a week throughout semester one and semester two or in blocks of time during the semester breaks.

Alternatively, the students can undertake an internship (paid or unpaid) for the duration of 10-12 weeks (usually engaging in a full time role in an organisation) and this will normally be completed during semester three which would mean that the engagement with the final project would be deferred until September when the internship is completed and 120 credits are awarded.

Students undertake operational, supervisory and if possible, management tasks and duties within the organisation; During their internship students are expected to follow the same work pattern as other employees in the organisation and to perform routine work consistent with that which they aspire to on successful completion of their programme of study.  They will also undertake a work based project tailored to meet the needs of the organisation.

Students can opt for an individual consultancy project as their final project.

The majority have students have progressed to managerial roles within the industries.

All prospective students must satisfy Cardiff Metropolitan University’s admission requirements for students on Masters courses as specified in Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Academic Handbook: The normal minimum requirements for entry onto Master’s Degrees are:

(i) an initial degree awarded by another approved degree awarding body (2:2 or above); or
(ii) a non-graduate qualification which is deemed to be of a satisfactory standard for the purpose of postgraduate admission

Students who do not hold such qualifications will be assessed as to their suitability through interview, and where necessary the taking of references. Non-graduates who lack formal qualifications (i.e.: formal qualifications which marginally fall short of the normal minimum entry requirements) should be compensated for by his/her relevant work experience provided that such candidates have held, for a minimum of two years, a responsible position which is relevant to the Master’s degree to be pursued.

International Applicants
Students whose first language is not English will need to provide evidence of fluency to at least an IELTS 6.0 standard or equivalent. For full details about how to apply and English Language qualifications please visit the International pages on the website.

There are quality assurance measures taken at programme, school and institutional level to ensure standards are consistently met.

Selection Procedure:
All applicants are required to complete an application form. Sometimes, applicants are interviewed, either face-to-face or by telephone.

How to Apply:
Applications for this course should be made direct to the university via our self-service facility. For further information please visit our How to Apply pages at www.cardiffmet.ac.uk/howtoapply.

If you are interested in using credit from another institution, or have obtained qualifications and/or experience to study for a course at Cardiff Met,  you can find further information on this as well as information on how to apply on the RPL page.

For general enquiries please contact the Admissions Team on 029 2041 6044 or email directapplications@cardiffmet.ac.uk

For course specific enquiries, please contact the programme leader, Darryl Gibbs:
Email: dgibbs@cardiffmet.ac.uk
Tel: 029 2041 7132