SMBG 2009 ranks the MSc Strategic Tourism Management second best Hospitality and Tourism Management program with four stars ****
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MSc Strategic Tourism Management
The MSc in Strategic Tourism Management gives students the tools, knowledge and attitudes to succeed in tourism: the world’s largest economic sector.
The program is transversal and multidisciplinary rather than built around specific sectors of tourism such as travel or hospitality. Global strategic tourism issues and techniques are focused on, producing graduates who are able to choose from a variety of careers in, and related to, tourism management and marketing.
The program balances the vocational / practical with the theoretical. Students gain from cutting-edge academic teaching to understand the concepts needed to tackle present and future challenges in tourism. Meanwhile, the program places constant emphasis on practical applications of the teaching. In this way, students are productive managers by the time they graduate.
The dramatic changes in the new global economy as well as consumers’ desire for more environmentally and socially sustainable business models mean tourism businesses and tourism destinations will have to manage and market themselves better; they will need the kind of well-trained graduates this program creates, who can create lasting value.
Tourism depends on existing natural resources now and in the future. Sustainable development is embedded in the program because it has such obvious consequences in tourism planning, marketing and consumer behavior.
The specific objectives of the course are to develop your leadership skills, to develop understanding of strategy, gain a thorough understanding of the nature and characteristics of tourists, and to provide you with the management, marketing and knowledge management tools so that you can lead the way in the rapidly changing world tourism environment.
Specialty areas cover tourism marketing as well as the application of I.T. tools in tourism marketing and management. Specific courses include Visitor Behavior, Events and Meetings, Tourism Economics and Planning, Yield Management, Sales Negotiation, and Customer Relationship Management.
Why Choose This Program?
Learn from renowned, international faculty with excellent professional and academic experience, who work using "active learning" methods– the practical application of theory. As well as this, the program’s Advisory Board (high-profile professionals and academics in the field) develop the curriculum in collaboration with the program director to make sure the course of study is constantly updated and relevant to the needs of the industry and the job market. Students regularly meet, and are taught by, expert practicing professionals who work locally and internationally.
The program is recognized for its quality and, accordingly, over the last three years, has been ranked in the top 2 hospitality and tourism management programs in France by the rankings agency SMBG.
Nowhere is more appropriate to the study of tourism management than here on the French Riviera, which has long been one of the world’s principal tourist destinations. Students are able to use the location on the French Riviera –La Côte d’Azur– as a living laboratory while focusing on the regional B points: event tourism, luxury tourism and the use of new technologies in tourism marketing.
This program draws on these features as resources for students. Students work on real-life projects and problems with local businesses and attend tourism conferences in the area. Local tourism companies and organizations take part in this MSc at all levels.
The Strategic Tourism Management MSc at SKEMA is designed to produce graduates who are ready for a global tourism environment that is constantly changing. Graduates are ready to meet today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. That is why issues of sustainable development are addressed throughout the program.
The student composition on the program is also highly multi-cultural; over the last three years, over 25 nationalities have been present in class. This international student make up is appropriate to the subject of study and makes group projects and group discussion a lively, and unforgettable, source of inter-cultural learning.
Your Future Career in Tourism
As the course of study is transversal, graduates of this MSc find work in a broad range of careers in, and related to, the tourism industry. Former students have found work in supervisory, managerial and consulting positions in both public and private sector tourism organizations, often with a marketing orientation.
Some recent graduate examples include: Natakan (2005) is market and account executive for Amadeus Asia; Jerome (2005) is group sales executive at Le Meridien Beach Plaza in Monaco; Nathalie (2005) as online marketing executive for Starwood Hotels in Paris; Chiheb (2005) is senior vice president at Jones Lang LaSalle, Hospitality– North Africa and the Middle East; Reynald (2005) is southern Europe sales manager for Le Louvre Hotels; Matej (2006) is project manager for Naseba, an international events company; Eng Su Yee (2006) is human resources management specialist for Singapore Airlines; Trude (2006) is yield manager for Norwegian Airlines; Sylvie (2007) is account executive for American Express Business Travel in Paris; Bruno (2007) is yield manager for Club Med; Catherine (2007) is director of marketing at the Nice Office of Tourism; Nguyen (2007) is restaurant manager/owner in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; Alexandra (2007) is charter & incentive sales account manager for SilverSeas Cruise; Dorothea (2007) is conference coordinator for the European Financial Management and Marketing Association in Paris; Mikhail (2008) is working on hospitality real estate development projects in Moscow . . .
MSc Strategic Tourism Management Director
Mady Keup, MBA, has more than 20 years’ experience in international management and leisure and business tourism. She has lived and worked in six European countries and has traveled worldwide on business throughout her career. She is a firm believer in lifelong learning and in 2005 added an MBA to her marketing qualifications. She worked for more than 12 years with the British Tourist Authority (now: VisitBritain) in management positions in London, Madrid, Lisbon and Berlin. Other career highlights include five years as Head of the London Convention Bureau and a stint as Chief Executive of the British-Portuguese Chamber of Commerce in Lisbon. A tourism consultant, lecturer and trainer, Mady speaks six languages fluently. She has worked with SKEMA for three years.